Welcome Home
by Lemonadey
Summary: Returning to Mystic falls after 5 years living in New York, Stefan comes face to face with his old life in the form of former best friend Caroline Forbes who is not pleased by his return. A story of his journey in returning home while his memories flashback to the life he left behind. AH/AU.
1. Ch 1: New Beginnings

Caroline Forbes. He saw her name at exactly 9.05am that morning. A significant moment for him as he is quite sure his heart skipped a beat in that second. The minor panic attack he had seconds later was just a coincidence he convinced himself. The stress of his work as a doctor at Mystic Falls Hospital and long hours were just getting to him that day. Yeah that was it. He mentally reminded himself not to skip lunch today if his dizzy spell was anything to go by.

Caroline Forbes. Had it already been five years. Five years without that melodic laugh. Without those piercing blue eyes. Without those golden locks he still to this day had sweet dreams about.

He would be lying if he said he wasn't completely terrified of coming face to face with his once best friend. The woman who captured his heart in a way no one else has since. The ghost of past mistakes coming to haunt him. The biggest mistake of his life.

Maybe he should completely avoid an awkward conversation and a half by asking dr,fell to take care of this one patient for him. After all she owed him plenty of favours. But no. Then he would miss his chance to make amends. He had to do this. Deep breaths.

He walked into the waiting room and caught a glimpse of blonde curls behind a magazine. He knew she already saw him the moment he noticed the 'Knitting 4 Families' magazine she was currently using as a human shield was upside down in her hands. That and because he knew for a fact she couldn't knit to save her life. A slight smirk spread across his face as he thought of giving the poor girl the benefit of the doubt and calling the next patient on the list so she can leg it out of there. She hated hospitals as it was and he could give her the optimal opportunity to leave. But he was determined to fix what he broke 5 years ago.

"Caroline Forbes"

She sunk further into her chair and more into the magazine.

"Caroline Forbes" he declared louder this time to insinuate I know you're there.

He slowly walked up to where she was sitting, cleared his throat and ever so lightly whispered "Caroline".

Her name was intoxicating. He loved saying it. Wished he could say it even more if it wouldn't annoy all other patients and nurses already giving him questioning looks. Lucky for them he didn't need to say it again as she finally acknowledged his presence.

"Stefan, hey..." he smiled at that.

"I mean dr,stefan.. i mean dr,salvatore , ... sorry , it's been a while" she eventually stuttered out. He chuckled and it was in that moment he realised how much he missed her. One stuttered sentenced and she brought him to life again.

"Stefan's fine, Caroline" he couldn't resist, he had to say her name again. It had been 5 years let him enjoy it while he can he thought to himself.

"Shall we go to my office?"

"Sure, yeah. I mean it's why I'm here" she awkwardly chuckled.

"Sorry, I didn't here my name being called before" she said as she stood up and grabbed her handbag from the floor.

"I was just so into this..." her eyes were wide as saucers as she glanced from the Knitting magazine in her hand then to him. She threw it onto the chair as if it suddenly caught fire then turned to run away from it as fast as she could. Or was it him she was running from.

"This way Caroline" he interrupted as she started speed walking in the wrong direction.

"Sorry" she squeaked out, wide eyes awkward smile plastered on as she made her way in the direction he pointed. He lightly chuckled again. He probably smiled more in these last few seconds then he did in the last week or make that month.

As they entered his office she sat directly opposite his desk fidgeting with her hands on her lap.

"So, Caroline, what can I do for you?"

"Nothing, I don't want anything from you" she said in a strict as if it were her reflex response she had prepared herself with for years.

There was an awkward silence as neither pairs of eyes would meet. He decided to break the tension and was next to talk.

"Look, if this is too weird for you, I could get another doctor..." Her eyes meet his at that as if she was seriously considering it. He panicked he was going to loose her again. _I can't loose her again._

"...But we are so busy, I don't think you can get seen today... or even this week". He lied.

"Okay, fine let's just get this over with" she said in a cold distant tone.

"So are you going to tell me what's wrong, or are we gonna play 20 questions?" He joked to try and lighten the mood. It didn't work.

She looked at him, mouth open evil eyes.

"Nothing is wrong. My life is perfectly amazing thank you very much" her voice with viscous bite to it.

"That's great... I'm really happy for you..." secretly he wished to be part of that amazing life, and it stung that he wasn't. But honestly if anyone deserved a happy life, it was her.

"But I was talking more on the lines of why you're here"

Her eyes were wide as she gave him a confused disgusted look. As if he offended her. And he did. Her hand twitched to grab her bag and in doing so knocked its contents onto the floor. As she hurried to put everything away again he knew she was going to make a run for it. He had to stop her.

"Listen, Caroline... I'm really sorry about our past and everything I did that hurt you, and I would really like to make it up to you someday. But today you came to see a doctor, so let me help you now, and we can talk about that other stuff later..." she stared into his eyes as if contemplating the idea for a second before he pushed to far. "Maybe dinner tomorrow night" he pleasingly questioned.

She let out an angry huff of air, eyes darting across the room as she licked her teeth before looking directly at him resigning her famous killer death stare. His heart sank as he watched her storm out the office and slam the door shut. And just like that he felt empty again.

* * *

 _"Come on, you are at a kegger full of hot girls, and you're single, and you're well you're you"_

 _"So what am I suppose to do, grab some random girl, throw her over my shoulder take her out onto the dance floor?"_

 _"Just take your own advice, have fun you know, we deserve a little fun"_

 _'Have fun' there is only one girl in this entire room that can make Stefan Salvatore let loose and have fun, and she's standing right in front of him. Without warning he hikes her up over his shoulder and carries her to the middle of a crowd of people, where a temporary dance floor has been made up._

 _He's having fun; real fun, and he can't remember the last time he's laughed like this if ever. It's hard to imagine a few hours ago he was moping about at home pretending to study, trying to forget his recent breakup with college girlfriend Ivy. He still doesn't completely understand what went wrong. All he could piece together from what she said was_ 'you're hearts not really in it' _whatever that means. Why are women always so cryptic he thought to himself. But not Caroline. That's why they are best friends and mesh so well together. She is always completely and brutally honest with him. Speaking of Caroline her creative new dance moves brought him out of his thoughts and into a fit of giggles he could hardly breathe._

 _"Why are you laughing so much?"_

 _His laughs quieted down enough to tease her._

 _"You're moves are just so **stunning** caroline"_

 _She faked a sarcastic laugh and pointed her finger into his firm chest._

 _"Oh ha ha. **This** is how the kids dance these days stefan! But you wouldn't know that cause I can never get you away from your brooding spot by the bar" she raised her eyebrows to him expectantly._

 _"O come on, I always dance with you"_

 _"That's true... probably because you can't resist these killer moves" Caroline cheered before breaking out into some ridiculous dance routine._

 _Immediately the fit of giggles returned and the two were laughing hysterically like dorks not even noticing the looks they were receiving from other party goers. Stefan couldn't break the wide grin on his face as he watched Caroline's face light up as she danced with him. She leaned in, her lips to his ear to be heard over the thumping music, giving Stefan an unrecognizable tingling in the pit of his stomach._

 _"All those moves have tried me out. I'm going to go get a drink."_

 _Part of stefan didn't want to stop. He was having a great time and wanted to dance more with her but instead he gave a tight lipped nod and followed as Caroline led their way through the crowd. Suddenly Stefan was pulled back onto the dance floor and lost sight of Caroline. Instead another tall blonde stood in front of him._

 _"Rebekah... hi"_

 _"Stefan, I heard you and Ivy broke up" She seductively smirked._

 _"Errrr, yeah a couple weeks ago actually"._

 _Rebekah Mikaelson sister to Klaus and Elijah. Klaus and Caroline had a brief fling in their first year of college, which meant whenever Stefan hung out with Caroline and she was with Klaus, he got stuck with Rebekah and her not so subtle hints to try and seduce him. Stefan was glad when they broke up as not only did it mean he got rid of Rebekah but Klaus was a dick who didn't deserve Caroline. He and Klaus were once good friends, but that ended as soon as they started dating. It was only then that he realised how much he actually hated him. Once they broke up he completely detached himself entire Mikaelson family._

 _"Care to dance" Rebekah requested._

 _Stefan stood frozen in place. Normally he would give some spiel about how he hated dancing and would probably step on her feet, but he was having a great time with Caroline a few minutes ago and truth is he didn't want to stop. So instead he gave a tight lipped smile and nod to Rebekah whose face lit up._

 _It wasn't that he was leading Rebekah on because he made it crystal clear in the past nothing would ever happen between them and once he said that there was no going back. His mind put her in the category of 'not going to happen' and he told her this. Truth is Rebekah liked the challenge of a guy not interested or already taken, and targeted them even though she had tons of guys falling at her feet. Stefan knew this was just a game to her and he wanted to dance, so they did. Except it wasn't the same._

 _As he stood in the middle of the dance floor with an awkward smile plastered on his face he felt empty. He tried to show some new moves he just learnt from Caroline to Rebekah, and forced out a awkward laugh to break the silence when she just started at him. She did a seductive dance and closed in on him until she was pressed up against his chest. He could feel her breath on his lips, when suddenly his mind flashed images of Caroline. He felt this overwhelming urge to go and find her. Taking a large step back from Rebekah he yelled "I'm going to get a drink" from a safe distance._

 _As Stefan made his way through the crowd his head whipped side to side side in search of Caroline. He thought he would look for her by the bar in the corner of the room. Hearing her angelic laugh before he saw her, he couldn't stop the instant grin that spread across his face. Seeing the blonde in the distance made him realized how much he had missed her in the few moments Rebekah had stolen him away. She was talking to someone he couldn't see hidden away in the crowd so he thought to get them some drinks before interrupting and dragging her out to see more of those killer moves._

 _Pouring himself and Caroline some drinks, Rebekah comes and snatches one out of his hands. H_ _e realizes she must of followed him without him noticing. He sighs frustrated and starts pouring another drink._

 _"Are you trying to get me drunk ?" Rebekah flirted._

 _"Actually, I'm trying to get Caroline a drink" he bites back._

 _"I'm sure she has plenty seeing as how Nik's here, and you know how he loves throwing money at her, getting her drunk yada yada"_

 _Suddenly a rage of anger builds within Stefan._

 _"What's Klaus doing here?"_

 _"Trying to get her back obviously. He's been trying for weeks. Turns up at her dorm, all her classes. If she's at a party he's there... She didn't tell you?"_

 _Stefan starts to panic. His mind was telling him she was fine, he had just saw her a few moments ago she was happy and laughing. But something else inside him needed to see her. He immediately turns to go to Caroline when Rebbekah grabs hold of him again seductively stroking her finger up and down his chest_

 _"she's fines Stefan, why don't you stay and maybe we could -"_

 _"Rebekah" Stefan interrupts in an annoyed tone while pushing her hand away "I've told you before it's not gonna happen why don't you find someone whose interested"_

 _After leaving Rebbekah with a stunned look on her face Stefan goes out in a frantic search for Caroline. He finds her in the same spot she was in only moments ago. Of course she's fine. Happily going around chatting away, just being Caroline. The anger he built up inside seconds ago melts away._

 _She spots him in the corner of her eye and gives a slight nod._

 _"Hey"_

 _"Hey, I saw you didn't have one so I got you a..." Caroline lifts the plastic cup in her hand indicating she did in fact already have a drink. Stefan purses his lips and let's out an "oh"_

 _"But it's fine I can have two" she let's out a gentle smile and takes the cup from Stefan's hand._

 _"Thanks"_

 _"You're welcome"_

 _Ocean blue to emerald green, they stare deep into each other's eyes as if they are the only two in the room. The only two in the world. But they weren't. A voice next to Stefan clears their throat, breaking Caroline out of her daze._

 _"Sorry" Caroline blinks rapidly and gestures toward the man next to stefan._

 _"Jesse..Stefan, Stefan..Jesse"_

 _Jesse offers his hand to Stefan and he responds giving him a hard firm handshake._

 _"Hey man"_

 _"Hey... So how do you guys know each other" Stefan quizzed while pointing his finger between the two._

 _"Oh we're in the same biology class" Jesse smiled._

 _Stefan looked to Caroline curiously as she attempted to hide behind her hands currently holding two cups full of drink._

 _"But you're a drama major"_

 _"Yeah tell me about it... ok so first day of class this year she walks in, and sits next to me. We get to talking when she gets asked a question by professor Wes-"_

 _"-He only picked me cause he thought I was a dumb blonde who wouldn't know the answer"_

 _" He picked on you cause you weren't listening to a word the man was saying and you **didn't** know the answer"_

 _"Because I don't take biology!" Caroline screeched._

 _"Yeah, but if you were listening to him you would of realised you were in the wrong room" Jesse exclaimed._

 _"Did you leave when you realised you were in the wrong class" Stefan interrupted._

 _"No, that's the funny thing. Once he told her she had no chance of passing that class , she continued to showing up to all our lessons"_

 _Caroline gave a mischievous smile and responded to Stefan's questioning look with;_

 _"Once someone tells me I can't do something, I prove them wrong."_

 _Stefan chuckled. There is honestly only one Caroline Forbes in this world and even though he knew her better than anybody, she still found ways to surprise him._

 _"So you've been studying Biology this whole year?"_

 _"No, he kicked me out a couple weeks into it when he realised I shouldn't be there. Either that or I just really annoyed him" all three of them laughed._

 _"Actually I think he kind of misses you in his own way. If anyone ever gets a question wrong, he's always like ' **even the blonde drama queen could of got that' "** all three laughed at Jesse's impersonation of prof Wes._

 _"How come you never told me about that before?" Stefan asked as Caroline shrugged and blushed_

 _"Because it's embarrassing"_

 _"Come on, I know plenty more embarrassing stuff about you than that"_

 _"Oh really" Jesse pipped in._

 _" **Ok** " Caroline was fully red now and wanted desperately to change the topic of conversation, but Stefan was loving talking about Caroline and liked how easily he could tease her to get under her skin. However he didn't feel comfortable embarrassing Caroline with Jesse here so instead he just smiled at her._

 _"So where's the she devil? I saw you guys dirty dancing out there" Caroline wiggled her eyebrows while Stefan's mind flashed back to the memory of him and Caroline snuggled up on the couch in her dorm room watching another one of her 'girly' Rom com's, while Caroline bragged about how she could dance like that if she wanted to. Stefan preferred that image rather than the one he gained moments ago with Rebbekah._

 _"We weren't dirty dancing"_

 _"Mmmm-hmmm" Caroline murmured sarcastically._

 _"She actually mentioned that Klaus was here" he answered with a serious tone, wanting to give her advanced warning so she could prepare herself._

 _"Yeah, I know I already saw him" she brushed off while downing one of her drinks._

 _"What?!" Stefan's eyes widened as he all but yelled_

 _"It's ok, calm down Stefan. Jesse took care of him" Stefan questionably looked to Jesse._

 _"Yeah I told him to back off. He wasn't happy about it but I think he got the message for now"_

 _"My hero" Caroline gushed to Jesse with a wide grin. He smirked and gave her a wink._

 _Stefan started to get this tingling feeling in the pit of his stomach. Similar to the feeling he got when Klaus first started fishing around Caroline. But Jesse seemed like a good guy and he could tell Caroline liked him. He would give him the benefit of the doubt for now. But he still didn't trust him with Caroline._

 _Caroline looked out the corner of her eye and spotted someone_

 _"Oh.. I need to talk to Bonnie quickly, i'll be right back" and with that she left the two boys standing there awkwardly._

 _"Thanks for taking care of the whole Klaus situation. I should of been there-"_

 _"It's no problem man" Jesse interrupted "But just so you know, I don't think that was the last of it" Jesse said in a serious tone._

 _"What d'you mean?"_

 _"Well, he kept saying something about 'last love's' , and you know he's been like a stalker or something lately"._

 _Stefan nodded with a serious face. Did everyone know Klaus was fishing around lately?_

 _"I know you're her best friend so you'll look out for her"_

 _'Best friend' why did that feel like such a dig from Jesse? Why would he assume?_

 _"How do you know I'm her best friend?"_

 _"Caroline said..."_

 _Stefan felt like he had been punched in the gut. But why? They were best friends. Have been for years. She was only saying the truth._

 _"...And she talks about you all the time"_

 _Stefan smiled at that and his mood instantly lifted._

 _"Hey, so I got to go give my friend a ride home my friend a ride home" Jesse announced while looking down at his phone. "Do me a favour, tell Care I'm really sorry and to send me a text if she's serious about that date" Stefan in stunned silence muttered out a "sure" as he watched Jesse leave the party. That was it. He didn't like Jesse. Something about him just bothered Stefan._

 _A few more minutes later Caroline came back with Bonnie in tow._

 _"Hey Stefan" Bonnie waved as Stefan smiled back with a "hey"_

 _"Where's Jesse?" Caroline asked whipping her head round in search of him._

 _"He left"_

 _"Oh shoot I was so excited for you to meet him Bon... Stefan what did you think of Jesse?" Stefan froze. What should he do . She seemed really excited about this guy and he hasn't really done anything to say he was a 'bad guy'. **Yet.** But Stefan has a bad feeling about him. He has always been completely honest with Caroline. He couldn't imagine lying to her face. After a long pause pause he opened his mouth to respond when Caroline cut him off;_

 _"Did he say anything before he left"_

 _Ok now was time to deflect this conversation away from Jesse._

 _"How come you never told me Klaus has been sniffing around?"_

 _Caroline's eyes widened as she stuttered out a;_

 _"W-What...I ...I mean Jesse took care of it. It's fine."_

 _"Well Rebekah says he's been hovering around you lately"_

 _"Well Rebekahs a -"_

 _"And Jesse seems to think the same"_

 _"Well.." Stefan raised an eyebrow at her challenging her to lie to him. She shut her open mouth and cast her gaze down to the floor._

 _Stefan then turned his attention to Bonnie;_

 _"Did you know?"_

 _"Well I ..."_

 _"Hey, this isn't her fault. I asked her not to say anything"_

 _"Why?"_

 _"Look, I know you and Klaus are friends and I didn't want to put you in a position where-"_

 _"Me and Klaus are **not** friends and you know that. Try again"_

 _"Well, he hasn't been around that much and-" Caroline tried to explain still not meeting his eyes._

 _"Noooo" Stefan demanded, determined as ever. Caroline took a deep breath before finally meeting his eyes._

 _"I was going to tell you, but then you broke up with Ivy and I didn't want to be a burden"_

 _"Caroline Forbes, you are my best friend, you would **never** be a burden" Stefan and Caroline gently smiled, while they gazed into each others eyes again that night. Caroline let out a light chuckle as she continued;_

 _"And I didn't want you to get mad and punch him like you did Tyler" she teased._

 _"Tyler was a dick who had it coming"._

 _Tyler was Caroline's high school boyfriend who dumped her just before college. Caroline didn't deserve how he treated her. She always fell for the wrong guys. She put everything into her relationships and they always took that for granted. If he was any of them he would never take her for granted he thought to himself. He would never want to destroy the faith she had in him._

 _"Speaking of Tyler, you know he's dating Liv now?" Bonnie commented._

 _"What the girl from your magic class"_

 _"Stop calling my Astrology class magic" Bonnie laughed as she nudged Caroline._

 _"Urr, last time I saw you studying you were researching celestial events. **That is magical** " Caroline exclaimed. Bonnie dropped the subject knowing she was fighting a losing battle._

 _The girls continued chatting for about half an hour before Bonnie decided to call it a night. After that Stefan and Caroline continued dancing, laughing and lots of drinking. She dragged him into a game of beer pong apparently forgetting the fact that she was terrible at it. By the end of the night Caroline was completely hammered. Stefan decided to walk her to his house as it was only a few blocks away._

 _On their walk back home, Caroline thought it a hilarious idea to start belting out BonJovi songs at the top of her lungs. Well song, she only knew the one barely but after finding a hidden album in Stefan's room a couple months ago she had been teasing him non stop. He would never live it down Stefan thought to himself. Although he was laughing in hysterics he decided once she she started screaming the chorus for the fifteenth time, it was best to quieten her down to avoid the wrath of his neighbours._

 _He wrapped his arm around her waist pushing her back to his chest as he covered her mouth with his hand. She continued to try and sing through it. Determined she started squirming breaking free from hold as they approached the front door. She frantically whipped around as his arm remained wrapped around her waist, but they now stood nose to nose, chest to chest. His hand that was just covering her mouth had a mind of its own as it stroked down her blonde locks tucking her hair behind her ears. Eyes blissfully closed, hearts beating out of control. He felt her breath on his lips instinctively causing him to crash them into hers in a desperate passionate need._

* * *

Stefan was brought out of his thoughts as a familiar BonJovi song started playing in the room. He whipped his head round before finding the source from the floor. A phone. It must be Caroline's from when she dropped her bag. He went to pick it up and saw the name ringing. **Bonnie**.

Without thinking Stefan answers

"Hello"

"Caroline?"

"No, actually it's Stefan"

"Stefan?"

"Yeah, Stefan Salvatore ... from... high school?"

"No I know I was just ... umm..w-what...Where's Caroline?"

"Oh, well um... She left her phone here and ahhh...I don't actually know why I answered it ... I guess I uhhh..."

"Well could you just get her to call me as soon as she can" Bonnie responded in an impatient tone.

"Yeah, sure, no problem". Bonnie abruptly hung up the phone clearly in a hurry to get away from him. Stefan looked down at Caroline's beaten up old phone. It was the same as the one her mom brought her 5 years ago. He remembers as she could never figure out how to use it and constantly made him _'fix the stupid thing'_ every two seconds. But the ringtone was there song. A glimmer of hope warmed Stefan's heart at the thought that a tiny part of her was holding onto their past. She might still have a sliver of feelings for him. He still had chance to get his best friend back.

Caroline had come back into his life for a reason and he wasn't going to screw it up again. She would have to come back for her phone and when she did Stefan would not let her leave until she gave him a chance to explain, apologize and hopefully a second chance to be part of her life again.


	2. Ch 2: O Brother

Stefan took a deep breath and rubbed his hand over his tired face. It had been two weeks of an agonizing lack of concentration on anything other than Caroline Forbes. He closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. Two weeks since she ran out of his office and left her phone here. Why was it taking her so long to come back? She knew he had it. Bonnie must of told her by now. Maybe she has just abandoned it here to avoid ever having to see him again. Maybe seeing him after 5 years was the final straw for her and she could now leave the idea of them behind. That thought scared Stefan and was the final straw to him sitting here waiting.

He logged onto his computer and searched for Caroline Forbes file. He wasn't supposed to but he was getting desperate. It's not like he was snooping, just looking quick enough to get a home number. It was however crossing the professional line. There was no home number on record so instead he wrote down the home address and decided to take an early lunch, asking to cover for him.

When he reached her apartment his heart was racing and palms started to sweat. She was on the second floor so when he left the elevator he took a deep breath and knocked waiting for her to answer. When the door swung open, it was the last person in the world he expected to see.

"Hello brother".

* * *

 _"Look I'm just saying I think you two should give it a shot."_

 _"Give it a shot?"_

 _"Yeah I mean it's obvious you like her...God knows why" he muttered under his breath_

 _"But I don't think of her that way she's my friend"_

 _"Yeah_ _ **friend**_ _who you had a passion filled evening with last night" Damon wiggled his eyebrows. Stefan sighed as his eyes darted around the bar._

 _"We were both really drunk and-"_

 _"Who are you trying to kid brother. We both know you two have been dancing around each other for way too long now"_

 _Stefan looked angrily into Damon's eyes. Damon sighed and responded ;_

 _"Fine...Look if she's not the one cut her loose."_

 _"I can't loose her she's my best friend, she's, she's..."_

 _"Okay then. Say it was a drunken mistake and send Goldilock's to try someone else's porridge."_

 _Stefan angrily huffed and licked his teeth._

 _"You know what she might find_ _ **my**_ _bed juuuuuusssttt right" Damon smiled and before he knew it was on the floor with a bloody jaw and an angry brother leaning over him._

* * *

"What are you doing here?" The brothers asked each other at the same time. When neither answered after a long pause, Stefan angrily asked "where's Caroline?"

"Out" Damon responded in the same venomous tone. "Well, when will she be back?" Damon shrugged his shoulders.

"So what are you and her like a thing now?" It slipped out. Stefan couldn't help it. He was sick to his stomach. His own brother and his Caroline. But she wasn't his. Damon lightly chuckled.

"I'll tell Blondie you stopped by. Have a nice day" Damon responded in a sarcastic tone shutting the door in his face. Stefan put his hand out before it closed.

"Look, she uhh left this in my office.." Stefan said in a defeated tone. "Could you give it back to her and tell her I'm sorry?" Damon took the phone and nodded in a stunned silence.

Stefan sighed and turned to leave. As he waited for the elevator Damon broke out of his state of shock and let out an angry huff of air before starring down at Stefan.

"You know she doesn't deserve this" Damon started while taking a few steeps closer to him. "Elizabeth and Caroline Forbes. They're a family and have enough of their own problems... She doesn't deserve you coming here and messing with her head."

Stefan and damon now stood inches apart.

He knew Damon was close with Carolines mom Liz. When Damon was a teenager she took him under her wing. Put him on the right path. She was like a mother to him as he never got along with their own mother Lily. After seeing him get caught up in the wrong crowd she got him a job at the station and really helped him out. Stefan always knew it was actually Caroline who asked her mother to help Damon. She saw how worried Stefan was for his brother. Although if ever asked she always denied it claiming how much she hated Damon. Of course the brothers argument about Liz was one of the final nails in the coffin to their fractured relationship.

* * *

 _"I'm not having this conversation with you Damon."_

 _"Look you're screwing up your life Stefan"_

 _Stefan sighed and carried on throwing clothes into his duffel bag while grabbing everything he thought he would need for his move to New York. His father arranged for him to take his residency there, which was good as it meant he could get as far away from Caroline Forbes as he could possibly get. He was moving as fast as he could and had no intention of ever looking back._

 _"She needs you!" Damon screamed trying to get through to his idiot of a brother. Stefan angrily sighed before responding in a small voice._

 _"No she doesn't"_

 _"Yeah, she does and you know what you're being a real dick to her"_

 _Stefan narrowed his eyes to damon_

 _"You don't know what you're talking about" he continued packing, picking up a picture frame of him and Caroline by his bedside table. It was the biggest smile he has ever seen on his face. The glass had a massive crack spreading across the picture between their faces. Ironic he thought to himself._

 _"Actually I do. She told me what's been going on."_

 _Stefan shut his eyes and placed the picture frame face down on his bedside table again. "Yeah, well it's why it's best I go"_

 _"What the fuck is wrong with you?"_

 _"She made her choice Damon... and it doesn't matter any more. I really don't care"_

 _"YOU DON'T CARE! ARE YOU SERIOUS!"_

 _Stefan paused from moving clothes into his bag to look into Damon's eyes._

 _"Look if you're scared-"_

 _"I know what I'm doing Damon. And she wants it this way as well so"_

 _Damon looked away and sighed._

 _"Look I didn't want to be the one to tell you this but ... her mom ... she's sick"_

 _"What are you talking about?"_

 _"Liz ... She, s-she's got cancer"_

 _Stefan fell to sit on his bed in a state of shock._

 _"Caroline?... how's Caroline... is she ummm"_

 _"She's devastated. She needs you. Especially now"_

 _He took a deep breath._

 _"She doesn't want me Damon...and I can't... I can't be there for her" Stefan shut his eyes trying to hold back the tears. Damon just got angrier._

 _"WHAT THE HELL STEFAN! Get your shit together and be there for her"_

 _Stefan zipped up his bag a walked to the door of his room._

 _"She has someone... And I can't be her friend...Not anymore"_

 _Stefan left in a daze walking out the door blocking out all screams from Damon. Before he knew it damon grabbed hold of his collar and started punching him to the ground._

* * *

Since then the brothers relationship never recovered. Damon beat Stefan so violently that he passed out and ended up in the hospital. Physically he had four bruised ribs, two black eyes and a fractured shoulder, but the real pain came from his week in the hospital when not a single person came to see him. So when he was discharged he left mystic falls and his entire life behind. Apart from his grandmother's funeral two years ago he hasn't seen or spoken to Damon since. Their parents clearly took Stefan side in the spat as he was no longer invited to family occasions and very rarely mentioned. And here they stand now fighting over the same girl 5 years later.

As the brothers stood chest to chest a loud thud and smash coming from the apartment broke their staring contest. They both made their way to the sound that caught their attention to find an unconscious Caroline lying on the kitchen floor.

"Call an ambulance!" Stefan yelled to Damon as he crouched down beside Caroline's lifeless body.

"Caroline!... Caroline!" . She began to stir on the floor and slowly opened her eyes to find Stefan's face hovering over her.

"Errrr... am I in hell?" A flicker of a smile graced Stefan's lips relieved she was okay before it dropped as he registered the meaning behind her words. They gazed deep into each others eyes for a moment.

"Yeah can I get an ambulance please-" Damon continued in the phone, drawing Caroline's attention to him.

"No..I'm fine, I don't need an ambulance."

"Caroline" Stefan protested, but she ignored him as she sat up.

"Nu-uh, this is the last straw you are going to the hospital" Damon argued.

"Caroline, you should really stay down" Stefan tried while Caroline continued to ignore his presence and stood.

"Look, absolutely fine!" Caroline shrieked to Damon before falling dizzy again. Stefan caught her in his arms before she stumbled again. He completely froze and began to block out everything going on around him as he felt her in his arms. He swallowed hard at the butterflies in his stomach being more fluttering than he remembers, not that he's felt them in five years. The moment for Stefan was short lived as she leapt out of his arms and towards Damon lunging for the phone in his hand.

"Yeah the address is-heyyy-"

"Im sorry there has been a mistake, I don't need an ambulance. Thank you bye" she abruptly hung up the call and faced an angry Damon.

"What the hell is wrong with you?!"

"Nothing that's why I don't need an ambulance"

"How long are you going to ignore this?"

"What ignore you, as long as I'm still breathing" Caroline retired with a sarcastic smile.

"This isn't funny, you need to go to the hospital"

"I will, i'll go... tomorrow"

"Yeah, sure you will... What are you doing out of bed anyway?"

"I was thirsty and I saw you weren't in the kitchen so I thought you left" Caroline responded as she held a hand to the back of her head.

"I told you to stay in bed"

"You're **not** a doctor"

"Yeah, but you won't go see a doctor." Caroline took a deep breath still holding her head.

"I did go and ran into him." Caroline pointed to Stefan, who was awkwardly standing there watching the she scene unfold, while they finally acknowledged his presence "uuhh-" before ignoring him again;

"If that's not a sign, I don't know what is" Caroline interrupted.

"When did you see him?"

"Like a couple weeks ago"

" **WHAT?**! You said you've only felt this way for a couple days when I asked you this morning!"

"Well I didn't need anyone worrying" Caroline held the back of her head again.

"Umm.. Caroline-" Stefan tried to interrupt, but again being ignored.

"Now you are definitely going-" Damon interrupted reaching for his phone again.

"I will go ... tomorrow" Caroline grabbed his phone.

"Err Caroline"

"You can go **TODAY** "

"I can go **TOMORROW** "

"Now!"

"Caroline.."

"Well I've got things to do-"

"Why can't you just-"

"I've got responsibilities Damon-"

"And you're health should be one of them-"

"Just for **once** could you not-"

"Just for once would you **listen** -"

"I am listening, I'm telling you tomor-"

"Thats not listenin-"

"CAROLINE" Stefan yelled breaking their attention from their squabbling.

"Did you bang you're head when you fell?"

"Oh god! Not you too"

"If you hit you're head you could have a concussion. You need to get it checked out"

"Thank you! Even bone head over here is smarter than you at the minute." Damon commented gesturing toward Stefan as the former run his tongue over his teeth.

"Damon please!" Caroline turned to Damon with desperation in her voice. Damon sympathetically sighed and looked down at her holding her shoulders.

"Look I know you're scared to go back there, but you'll be in and out before you know it". Damon tried to calm her down from the minor panic attack she was having but her breathing just became more erratic as she was practically begging at this point.

"I will book an emergency appointment and go to the GP first thing tomorrow, I promise."

"If you banged your head you need to go now".

"I could...take you... you won't have to wait around to be seen." Stefan interjected wanting more than anything to comfort Caroline but the look he was getting told him she wanted anyone but him there. She turned back to Damon.

"But I need to-"

"-I'll take care of it."

Caroline looked on still unsure until Damon gave the final push;

"Look you either go with **him** or in an ambulance and sit around in the hospital for hours, but either way you're going". Caroline sighed exhausted.

"Fine... but if anything-" Caroline pointed her finger to Damon while grabbing her coat before Damon interrupted;

"Caroline, we'll be fine". She picked up her bag as she and Stefan approached the door before turning back.

"Don't-"

"- I know the rules!" Damon again interrupted frustration exuding him.

"Ok let's go" she angrily huffed at Stefan as they left her apartment.

"Hey Blondie?" Damon called from the doorway as she and Stefan waited for the elevator.

"Are you sure you don't want me to call Bonnie or Elena?"

"No, i'll be fine" Caroline plastered on her biggest fake smile.

"Oh and remember to-"

"- I know, I know" Damon cut her off shutting the door on them. All Stefan could think was what the hell did he just walk into.


	3. Ch 3: Definable Bonds

Stefan and Caroline sat in absolute silence on the car ride to the hospital. Each time his eyes drew away from the road and to her direction he saw her gazing out the window while her hands fidget on her lap. She didn't look in his direction once. When the car pulled up outside the hospital her breathing became erratic again.

"Hey, it's okay. It's just a building." Stefan calmed her. She looked directly into his eyes and nodded as she fiddled with her necklace.

"Yeah, you're right". He gave her a reassuring smile and they made their way towards the entrance. Caroline paused just before the doors and started looking around wide eyed, shallow breaths. With a deep breath of his own, Stefan took her hand and held it tight as he pulled her through the doors and they made their way to his office.

* * *

 _He held her hand tight as he led her through the door of his bedroom. Giggling he wrapped his arms around her waist as their lips crashed into one another. They took mini steps towards the bed without loosing contact for even a second. Stefan began to grow impatient as a groan escaped his lips currently pressed hard against Caroline's neck while she closed her eyes in bliss._

 _Suddenly he broke away, head leaning back as he looked directly into Carolines eyes giving a mischievous smirk. Without warning, just like earlier that night he bent his knees, hands sliding down Carolines back and resting just below her ass as he hiked her up over his shoulder and marched her towards the bed. He playfully threw her onto the matress to relieve screeches of laughter from Caroline._

 _As her laughs died down, she sat up on the bed and tucked her blonde hair out of her face, behind her ears and looked up to Stefan through her long lashes. He stood above frozen in place gazing at her beauty with the look of pure desire in his eyes. Pulling at the hem of his shirt, he threw it over his head to the floor. Caroline seductively bit her bottom lip and it was the most intoxicating image he had ever seen in his life._

 _He bent down on the bed hovering above her as she placed her hands on the side of his face. All laughter has completely dissipated and a serious tone was left._

 _"Are you sure?" Stefan asked praying to God she would let him continue what he had been planning to do to her. Caroline gave a gentle smile as she closed her eyes and pressed her lips to his. It was not like the previous kisses they were attacking each other with moments before. Not rushed, nor in desperate need of connection of her body to his, but an emotion filled delicate kiss._

 _Stefan smiled down at her unspoken response to his question, as his hands moved up her thighs under her dress to her panty line where he could already feel her wetness as his fingers hooked around and pulled them off in one swift motion. Caroline moved their positions as she rolled them so she now straddled his lap and he stared up at her as though she was the sun that hung the moon and stars. He felt the tightness and discomfort grow inside his jeans at the sight before him._

 _Stefan sat up and undone the zip on the back of her dress trailing his fingers down her now exposed back, as Caroline pulled her dress over her head hurling it across the room before hearing a loud smash drawing both of their attentions away from attacking each others mouths momentarily._

 _They saw a picture frame had been knocked on the floor and Stefan recognized it as the photo of him and Caroline even though it lay face down. She held a worried expression on her face as turning back to Stefan wide eyed, lips in a tight 'o' shape._

 _"Sorry" she squeaked out to which Stefan laughed at her adorable facial expression and went back to viciously attacking her lips._

 _"Don't worry about it.. although... you might... have to be punished" Stefan teased in between kisses._

 _"Oh really". She screeched again as Stefan again rolled them over so Caroline now lay flat against the bed. They both roared with laughter as Stefan started pinching Caroline sides as she squirmed beneath him. Her melodic laugh filled the bedroom causing him to lunge his lips to Carolines as they embraced in yet another hot make out session, practically devouring each other._

 _Caroline reached out blindly to Stefans belt as she unhooked and yanked it out, again violently chucking it across the room . Another smash was heard in the room as the lamp now took to the floor, but both now ignored the disturbance not wating to break from their current positions. Caroline unbuttoned Stefans jeans as he broke from the kiss and placed a hand on her face, stroking his thumb against her cheek. He smiled down at her as she continued to unzip and wriggle him out of them as he threaded his fingers through her golden locks and never broke away from gazing at her._

 _As he helped kick his jeans, along with his boxers off his feet, he reached behind to unlock her lacey bra. She took the bra in hand in preparation to throw before Stefan snatched it from her._

 _"I think you've trashed my room enough for today" Stefan responded to her quizzical look before gently placing the bra on the floor by the bed._

 _"Heyyy" Caroline shrieked before playfully smacking him on the shoulder. Stefan smiled before attacking her lips again, devouring her like his life depended on it. They may be drunk and this could be the biggest mistake of his life, but in that moment as he finally entered her, everything felt perfect. He was sobering up and realising how genuinely happy he was as he started to question;_ why haven't they been doing this the whole time?

 _Caroline opened her legs further granting him more access to hit her deeper as his hand moved to cup her but. The moans he was swallowing in his mouth from Caroline were turning him more on if that were possible. After his continuing thrusts he slide his hand down her thigh, behind her knee causing her to hook her leg around his back allowing him to penetrate more deeply. He could feel her wetness sending him into a state of nirvana. His grunts grew louder as she sucked his bottom lip between her teeth. His thrusts became harder and faster as he felt her begin to come undone. He opened his eyes to gaze at her orgasmic blushed cheeks and slight smile on her lips as she whispered his name. That proved to be his undoing as well as he began to fill inside of her at that moment. He leaned down delicately kissing her collar bone before rolling on the bed beside her, panting in breathe._

 _As their breathing calmed, he turned his face to Caroline, in the simultaneous moment she turned to face him. Stefan could not stop the toothy grin that spread on his face causing Caroline to burst out laughing in hysterics. They both faced each other laughing with no words for a good few minutes before Caroline rolled onto him straddling his lap._

 _"Ready for round two?" she questioned before stefan cut her off with a fiery kiss._

 _The rest of the night Stefan spent having the best sex of his life with the most perfect girl and not a care in the world. He let himself lose control and be happy for once. Their drunken state left a few blurry moments of the night like how they ended up in the neighbours pool by round 4 and why all the furniture in the living room had been moved around the next day? But Stefan had forcefully committed to memory every image of Caroline right up until the moment she passed out asleep in his arms. He started at her in silence that night, idily playing with strands of blonde curls thinking life couldn't get any better. A satisfied smile on his face before falling into his own slumber._

* * *

"If you want to take a seat?" Stefan requested taking a seat by his desk, while Caroline stood awkwardly fiddling with her hands looking wide eyed around the room.

"Caroline.. sit" Stefan gestures to the chair in front of his desk.

"Right.. Sorry". Caroline put her bag down and sat in the chair fiddling with her necklace again.

"Where you this nervous a couple weeks ago?"

"I was... and then I saw you and I guess my fear just turned to anger"

"Does that mean you're not angry at me anymore?" Stefan asked hopefully.

"No, I'm just back to ignoring you ever existed" Caroline viciously bit out leaving a pain in Stefan's chest where he momentarily raised his hopes.

"Right" he regretfully sighed before searching for Carolines file on his computer.

"How long since you've been to the doctors?"

" A few years. Why?"

"You're medical history is coming up blank. Hold on" Stefan started typing quickly on his computer.

"Huh-"

"What is everything okay?"

"Yeah, I just seem to be locked out of your files for some reason." Stefan squinted to the computer before turning to face Caroline.

"Who was your last doctor?"

"Your, dad actually"

"Ahhhh... strange. I'll just call up reception and get them to print me a copy of your files from the main database."

Stefan concluded while picking up the phone. He looked to Caroline whose breathing had quickened and eyes were darting across the room. He recognised her as having a minor panic attack and wanted nothing more than to run over to her and wrap her in his arms never letting her go. Fear of rejection kept him frozen In place _. Like always_.

"You know what I can fill out the paperwork stuff later. Let's just get you checked out and back home as soon as we can" he sympathetically smiled to her.

"Thanks" she barely whispered out.

"Ok, so how long have you been getting these dizzy spells. A couple weeks?"

"Ummmm.. actually it's more like a couple months"

He turned to her with another sympathetic look.

"Caroline, you should really come here as soon as-"

"What's with the lecture? Just tell me what's wrong, so I can get the hell outta here and back to my life". And her anger was back. Stefan took a deep breath realising how far they are now to their once unbreakable bond.

* * *

 _Stefan stirred awake to the pounding headache and dry mouth of his hangover. He kept his eyelids tightly shut for fear of the sunlight burning his eyes out of its sockets. He buried his head further into his pillow before realization hit that somebody was under his arms. Flashes of last night ran through his mind of him and Caroline: dancing, drinking, kissing. Kissing? They don't do that. Laughing, drinking all the time. Dancing occasionally. Kissing never. Well except that one time. But no, he thought to himself. Then it hit him. Images of Caroline from last night ran through his mind as his memory started to clear. He was sure now more than ever. He was currently in bed spooning Caroline._

 _He kept his eyes tight shut as he remained completely still, pretending to be still in deep sleep. He just need a few more minutes to compose himself before facing reality, blaming the tingling sensation in his gut to the raging hangover and ignoring the firm grip he covered her body with, preventing her from making any move to leave._

 _He could tell she was awake even as his eyes remained shut. He knew he couldn't keep her here. She was always an early riser and hated just lying in bed doing nothing. She wouldn't stay here for long. Probably just making her list of things she needs to do today, thinking what present to buy her mum for her birthday, panicking over what they have just done to their relationship. If she's left alone with her thoughts too long she's definitely going to over think this._

 _Is there something to over think? What did this mean for them? Is this going to change things or are they just going to pretend it never happened? Would it destroy their relationship or turn it into something even better? Would she hate him? Now Stefan was over thinking. He needed to talk to someone. Caroline. No he can't talk to Caroline. Caroline's complicated now._

 _Stefan started to panic over the war he was having in his own mind when a sudden sharp pain resonated in his shin._

 _"Owwwww" he instinctively whined while his eyes shot open._

 _"Sorry" Caroline sheepishly squeaked while turning over in the bed to face Stefan, who was now rubbing his shin._

 _"Did you just...kick me awake?"_

 _"What? nooo...I accidentally kicked you and you woke up as a result"_

 _"Mmmm-hmmm. Next time not so hard Caroline"_

 _"Next time?" Caroline stared wide eyes, eyebrows raised._

 _"No! I didn't mean umm... What I meant was umm... I made this a weird didn't i?"_

 _"Nooooo, this isn't weird Stefan" a long pause was exchanged as they stared wide eyed at each other._

 _"Ok it's weird, you made it a thing congratulations". When their awkward laughter died down there was another long pause where neither of them spoke._

 _"One of us should probably say something"_

 _"Go for it"_

 _"Not that" they both lightly laughed again._

 _"Soooooo"_

 _"Yeahhhh"_

 _Was she regretting this? Did she blame him for taking advantage? Was this that bad for their relationship? All these thoughts ran through Stefans mind as he struggled to get a read on what she was thinking. It had never been this hard before. Even before they really knew each other they just had this connection. One look and they would know. I guess sex ruins that. Just like dating ruins trust and broken trust leads to breakups, breakups result in hate. Hate. Caroline hating him. Stefans breathing became erratic and beads of sweat started to pour off him._

 _"Stefan" Caroline whispered concern clear in her voice._

 _"Please dont't hate me?" Blurted out without really thinking._

 _"What?" Caroline responded in a small voice._

 _"I mean,.. O God! This is so bad. I ruined everything" he put his hand up to cover his face ashamed._

 _"Its okay Stefan, it wasn't just you". He came out from under his hands at that._

 _"Yeah. You're right... we were drunk. It was the alochol. Nothing has to change between us"_

 _He looked to Caroline seeing a twinge of sadness in her eyes as she put on a fake smile. Normally he hated when she pretended with him, but at this point he would take any smile he could get. This was kind of new territory for their relationship and if she was pretending to not be completely repulsed by him at the moment he would just have to accept that._

 _"I mean, I barely remember anything any way" he lied. Why was he lying? He never lied to Caroline. Then again he never did this with Caroline. Although there were fuzzy parts to his memory, he remembered every moment he had with her last night. It's as if his tipsy brain sobered up long enough to commit every image of their mistake to his memory._

 _Mistake? Is that what it was? That's what he needed to keep telling himself, when in reality it felt like the complete opposite of a mistake. No it had to be a mistake. He couldn't loose Caroline. She couldn't hate him. He turned to face her with a serious look._

 _"I don't want this to ruin us" he said in a small voice._

 _Caroline gave him a sympathetic smile._

 _"Hey, nothing is going to ruin us okay...we're unbreakable" she said reasuardly. Stefan smiled at that._

 _"Soooo, we forget it ever happened, put it out of our minds and never speak of it again"_

 _"Okay" Caroline sighed and did her sad smile again._


	4. Ch 4: Calling for a friend

Stefan walked over to where she was seated reaching into his top pocket for his light torch to shine in Caroline's eyes. He saw her breath hitch as his face approached hers. Probably still nervous about being in the hospital he thought.

"So... how long have you been back?" Caroline questioned catching him off guard. This was the first time since he's been back that she has initiated conversation and with the biting retorts she's been giving him lately he didn't expect it. He stuttered mouth open in shock, not knowing what to say. She raised her eyebrows at him expectantly before he responded.

"About a month actually..." . She seemed annoyed by his answer as her eyes moved behind his shoulder, as she let out a "huh". She was thinking about what that meant. He may of been gone five years but he still have himself a little credit in reading her in this moment. She was annoyed he didn't come to see her. Thought he didn't care.

"I tried to stop by your mom's house the day I got back but nobody lives there anymore?"

He did try try to get in contact with her his first day the overwhelming emotions he had of being back home caused him to turn up at her door instinctively without even thinking about it. It was probably a good thing she wasn't there he told himself. He wasn't ready to see her anyway. Since that day he has distracted himself in every way possible trying to not think about her until she turned up at his work.

"Yeah well, we couldn't really afford to live there anymore so... Anyway I probably would of just slammed the door in your face" Caroline gave a wide sarcastic smile to him as it felt like that door was being slammed in his face right now. He shone the light in her eyes checking to see any damage the hit to the head might of given her.

"You left your phone here by the way. The other week?"

"Ohhh.. I was wondering where I left that thing"

"Bonnie didn't tell you I had it?"

"Bonnie?"

"Yeah , you're phone started ringing and I picked up. Bonnie knew I had it...She didn't tell you?"

"No, she didn't" Caroline whispered almost to herself. She was lost in her own thoughts for a moment.

"I can't believe you still have that old thing"

"Well my mom got it for me" Caroline said in an almost annoyed tone, underlying with something he couldn't quite put his finger on.

"And that Bon Jovi ringtone?" Stefan teased

"That's because you changed the settings and I don't know how to stop that bloody song playing" Caroline complained.

"You asked me to do it" Stefan stated.

"I don't even like fucking Bon Jovi!" Caroline all but screeched.

* * *

 _"You got me two tickets to Bon Jovi?" Stefan questioned to which Caroline smiled and nodded her head. Stefan had a massive grin on his face as he stood up from the bar stool to wrap her in a bear hug._

 _"Thank you"_

 _"You're welcome. Happy birthday!" Caroline laughed as he leant back to face her the grin on his face only widening more._

 _He examined the tickets as he sat back down in his spot while Caroline sat down next to him._

 _"So when are we going?" Stefan questioned looking for the date on his tickets._

 _"Oh, you don't have to take **me**. They're are present... for you. Take whoever you want."_

 _Stefan lifted his gaze from the tickets to Caroline's smiling face, as he raised an eyebrow at her._

 _"Seriously, I got them for you to have fun so take Ivy or... Damon" Caroline scrunched up her face at the latter's the name making stefan lightly chuckle._

 _"Well I think I would have the **most** fun if I brought my best friend in the whole world" he raised his eyebrows to her in a challenging way._

 _"Oh okay do you want me to call your mom then?" Caroline questioned with mock seriousness before smirking._

 _"Shut up"_

 _Caroline reached over and grabbed his drink, downing it in one._

 _"Long day?" He questioned signalling to the bartender for another round._

 _"You could say that" Caroline mumbled sliding her jacket off._

 _Stefan looked to her waiting for her to elaborate but she dismissed it with a wave of her hand. "Doesn't matter, it's your birthday we should be celebrating" at that moment the bartender slid them their drinks and Caroline smiled down at the glass._

 _"Caroline.."_

 _"Seriously Stefan, Its fine. We can talk about it tommorow. Besides today is about celebrating.." Caroline lifted the glass and held it to toast, as Stefan begrudgingly grabbed his own glass._

 _"Happy Birthday, May you forever be older than me" They clicked glasses. Stefan took a sip from his drink smiling into the glass, while Caroline downed hers. He looked to her trying to decipher what was wrong, as Caroline turned the subject back on him._

 _"So what are you doing for your birthday?" Stefan decided to let it go for today. Clearly she didn't want to talk about it right now but she would eventuall. He will just have to wait till she's ready to tell him._

 _"Well Damon said he would meet me here.." He looked down at his watch "...an hour ago to get me so wasted I forget how old I really am"_

 _"Actually brother .." Damon interrupted approaching their seats at the bar "..I think I said until you forget how utterly boring Caroline's party for you will be" Damon smirked his evil grin to Stefan's stern narrowed eyes._

 _"Damon!... you're ruining the surprise" Caroline whined like a five year old._

 _"Relax Barbie he already knew"_

 _Caroline turned to look at Stefan who looked like a deer caught in headlights. He sighed and came clean."You sent out a group text to everyone last week but forgot to take me off the list." Caroline smacked her hand against her forehead in a 'doh' moment. Stefan and Damon both started laughing at her, the latter getting a nudge to the ribs as he leaned on the side of her chair ruffling her golden locks like a child._

 _"Why didn't you say anything?" she complained to Stefan. He shrugged his shoulders. Truth is he didn't know why. He knew she must of put a lot of thought into it and didn't want to disappoint her._

 _"Well I'm never using this stupid phone ever again" Caroline announced as she through the device on the bar._

 _"What is it with you and this phone?" Stefan questioned as he inspected it._

 _"I don't know. Mom got me it as an early graduation present and now I need to pretend to like it till I 'accidentally' drop it down the toilet" she raised her fingers to quote the accidentally ._

 _Damon grimaced "nice" while Stefan chuckled at his disgust._

 _"Oh, come on like you've loved every present you've ever been given"_

 _"Doesn't mean I throw it down the toilet" Damon retorted._

 _The cogs started turning in Stefan's head_

 _"Is that what happened to the snowglobe I got you?"_

 _Caroline tried to fight the smile on her face as Stefan narrowed his eyes on her._

 _"Oh come on you purchased it at a quick stop"_

 _"Caroline!"_

 _"Remind me never to get you anything" Damon made a passing comment_

 _"Oh like I would ever want anything from you"_

 _"O I know exactly what you want from me" Damon wiggled his eyebrows and gave his wide obnoxious grin. The one he especially reserved to piss Caroline off._

 _"Ehh, you're so disgusting"_

 _Stefan looked down in his hand to see a missed call from Bonnie on Caroline's phone. He interrupted Damon and Caroline's bickering presenting her phone to her._

 _"You missed a call "_

 _Caroline let out an annoyed huff_

 _"Why won't it ring!" She whined tossing the phone back to Stefan "fix the stupid thing for me" Stefan started playing around with the settings on her phone smiling down at how annoyed Caroline got over the littlest things. Like how annoyed she was at Damon right now as they continued their bickering._

 _"...And another thing never call me on that phone while you're on the toilet"_

 _"Why would I be calling you ever, I don't like talking to you as it is"..._

 _Stefan continued fiddling with her phone changing the settings, tunning out to their current slanging match. You got use to ignoring it after a while. Picking your battles of when you need to step in on their arguments that happened every time they saw each other. This current one was no more than a 2 on a scale to 10._

 _""...calling you Satan would be an insult to Satan"_

 _"Well we're not all perfect saint Caroline!"..._

 _Maybe a 6._

 _After figuring out that she just turned her phone to silent Stefan had a great idea. He changed her ringtone before catching the tail end of their argument._

 _"Who invited you anyway, scram"_

 _"I invited her..." Stefan interrupted handing the phone back to Caroline who gave an appreciative smile "..You said you would be here an hour ago"_

 _"Yeah well brother, had to sort out a few things, but I'm here now. We can start enjoying you're birthday before the bore fest this evening"_

 _"Hey!" Caroline complained giving Damon a dirty look. Stefan gave Caroline a reassuring smile._

 _"I'm gonna take a leak. Make sure there isn't any annoying pests around by the time I get back" Stefan gave a tight lipped smiled to Damon in preparation for Caroline's response but instead she just rolled her eyes while he sauntered off._

 _After taking a deep sigh she smiled to Stefan. He could tell something was still bothering her and it wasn't just Damon._

 _"So how are things going with Ivy?"_

 _"Fine...I think"_

 _Caroline slowly nodded "good". She gave her innocent smile to him and he felt something inside him stir. Something he has never felt with Ivy. He knew he didn't love Ivy that he was just with her because it was easy. They had this unspoken mutual agreement that neither of them had deep feelings for the other. It was easier having relationships like that._

 _"What about you? Still steering clear of all men?"_

 _She pondered the thought for a moment in her head before deciding with a stern nod "yes". Stefan took another sip of his drink, mumbling into it "Right". He looked over to her as she looked to be lost in her thoughts again. She looked sad._

 _"Well at least the whole Klaus fiasco is over" . His comment seemed to make her even sadder as she looked down and whispered a "yeah" that he would have missed had he not been listening so intently. She looked up to meet his gaze and gave her 'i'm fine' smile which he knew was a lie. Whatever was bothering her was bothering him and birthday or not he wanted to know what was wrong._

 _There was a brief pause where neither of them said anything before Caroline started to put on her jacket._

 _"You don't want another? We can just ignore Damon". She laughed._

 _"Nah, I gotta sort some stuff for the party tonight. Don't let Damon get you too drunk. I want you to remember at least some of it" she responded reaching into her bag before pulling out her purse. Stefan gave her a dismissive wave:_

 _"Don't worry I got it"_

 _She slammed the money down on the bar._

 _"Birthday boys don't pay everyone knows that"_

 _Just then a bonjovi tune rang from Caroline's phone. She tilted her head to the side narrowing her eyes to him._

 _"You didn't"_

 _"I did" he had a wide grin spread on his face while she looked on at him exhausted,before looking even more annoyed at the caller ID, before answering._

 _"What do you want Damon... Yeah I'm still here ...I'm going, I'm going..." She said as she stood up to leave mouthing a happy birthday to Stefan before giving him a wave goodbye. He waved back watching as she retreated from the bar._

 _"...are you calling me from the toilet?!...errr you're disgusting!"_

* * *

"Yeah at 3.30... do you know where to go?...oh..ok, thanks Damon.." She breathed a sigh of relief as Stefan entered the room catching the end of her phone call with Damon. After answering some more generic questions about her health, Caroline now sat on the patient bed awaiting some blood samples to be taken.

She looked to be debating something with him on the phone currently, as Stefan walked across the room.

"...Ok just this once though. I'll see you when I get home then. Oh and don't-" she looked down at the phone where Damon had clearly disconnected the call making a face at it "..ok bye" she huffed at the inanimate object. Stefan was sulking in the corner trying not to listen in on their conversation. Trying and failing. He couldn't help it.

"Thanks" she motioned to Stefan his office phone that she used when she asked to check in on Damon.

"It's no problem" he responded taking it from her hand placing it back on his desk. But it was a problem. She couldn't go an hour without talking to him? What kind of parallel world did he enter.

Damon and Caroline. It was a match made in hell. The anger was building and nothing he did would stop it. He had no right. They hadn't been in each others lives for years. But it was just sick. Her and Damon were all wrong for each other. He couldn't stop this rage building within him. He needed to know more.

"So, uhh... you and Damon huh?" He approached not looking her in the eye, rather the syringes on the tray he just brought into the room placing them down next to her.

"Me and... Damon?"

"How long have...have you two been .. uh..." he stuttered out awkwardly still not meeting her eyes.

"Been what?" She asked confused.

"Been together" he angrily huffed out. It never used to be this hard to pry information out of her. He vividly remembers her telling her life story to strangers on the street back when they were friends. He was the closed off one.

There was a long pause till his eyes finally met hers.

"...Ewwwwwwww... gross!"

Taking a syringe in his hand. Stefan approached her slowly.

"You two aren't?" He asked confused.

"No! ... that's the most disturbing thing I have ever heard"

"Yeah" Stefan couldn't help the slight twitch on the corner of his mouth as he breathed a sigh of relief.

He immediately started to relax around her again and brought the syringe to her arm. Her breathing quickened and body started to shake. He started doing the same both for completely reasons. The close proximity was getting to him and as he took a blood sample from her he saw the pain in her face as she winced. He thought to distract her by making conversation.

"So... how's your mom?"

Her body turned rigid as her head snapped to face him wide eyed, open mouth.

"Uhhh... She ahhh..She died". She gave her sad 'I'm fine' smile as Stefan froze stunned to silence for a few minutes.

"I'm.. I'm sorry, I didn't-"

"-it's fine, I just...I thought Damon would have told you" . Damon told him she was sick that day he left but he just assumed she got better. He never questioned it. He should of. How could he be so selfish. No wonder Caroline hated him. He abandoned her when she needed him most. Why had no-one told him. Why didn't **he** tell him?

"Damon and I haven't been on speaking terms for a long time now. He told me she had... did she die of-"

"-Cancer. Yeah it wasn't long after she got diagnosed.. but errr... Yeah". She shrugged fighting her eyes full of water as she looked to the floor. Stefan sat down next to her on the bed as he digested the news.

"I'm so sorry Caroline" he placed his hand over hers. It used to be a reassuring thing they did and he hoped it still held some strength. She slowly lifted her head to meet his eyes .

"I should of been there and I wasn't" he repented full of regret as they gazed into each other as silence engulfed the room. After a long pause he continued.

"And I know I can never make it up to you...But ... I'm here now ... if you ever want to talk about it."

Caroline couldn't prevent the single tear that leaked down cheek as her walls began to crumble.

"I really miss her Stefan. Everyday I try to move on with my life, try to get past this, but... she's my mom and ...I'm never gonna stop missing her".

"Well that's life Caroline. You're probably always gonna miss her...All you can do is try and move on with you're life. Be happy...It's what she would of wanted" Stefan gently nodded to her as she smiled sadly releasing another lone tear down her cheek, to which he whipped away with his thumb.

"Yeah... She was a really amazing mom" her voice cracked at that.

"The best" he smiled.

Caroline's eyes started to water again and all attempts to prevent the waterfall of tears was futile. It broke his heart to see her like this and before too long tears clouded his own vision of her pain. He knew their current relationship was still on Rocky territory, but his arms instinctively wrapped a found her pulling her face to his chest.

"Shhh.. it's okay".

He held her tighter as Caroline crumbled in his arms, her tears drenching through his shirt. They stayed in that position as minutes past. Only sounds of Caroline's muffled tears. He wished he could take this pain away from her. He would sell his soul for her to be happy again.


	5. Ch 5: A Trusting Stranger

**_A/N: I just wanted to say a quick thank you to everyone reading. Thanks for all the follows, favourites and reviews. They really mean a lot and I LOVE reading what you guys are thinking about the story and where you think it's heading. This is kinda my first time writting anything so i dont really know what im doing (story of my life) but i hope you're all enjoying the story so far. Also, if you have any questions or requests of things you might want to see don't hesitate to ask my tumblr account can be found on my profile where i sometimes give out sneak peeks when lovely annon's ask. Ok i will stop babbling on now and let you read the chapter hope you enjoy 💜_**

After everything they have been through, they were still the same Stefan and Caroline. Five years of heartbreak and a frosty reception after returning home, they sat in that hospital room falling back into old habits. It was in that moment he realised that was just who they were. Best friends to their core and no matter what happened in the world around them they would always be. They would always have that connection, and that gave him hope. Hope that they could back to where they were before he left. He could help comfort her over the loss of her mother, while her mere existence in his arms comforted him. Made him feel whole again. Admittedly he would give anything for her to not have to be going through this pain right now, but the selfish part of his brain loved the fact that those walls she built when he first returned are crumbling piece by piece.

As if sensing his thoughts Caroline snapped away from him as if his touch burnt her, and vigorously wiped away her tears trying to compose herself.

"Sorry... I-I uhh, I guess I haven't talk to anyone about my mom in a long time. Damon always jokes that I blocked out all emotions when she died" She explained while rolling her eyes.

He let out a light laugh. "It's okay.. and, I'm always here if you want to talk about her".

The tension in the room was thick as they sat there looking into each others eyes. Still reeling from what just happened. Stefan eyes had a mind of their own as they filtered down from her bloodshot puffy eyes to the slight red tip of her nose, landing on her lips.

* * *

 _His eyes opened to rose plump lips as he snuck into a tight bedroom closet. His gaze slowly filtered up to piercing blue eyes as he suddenly recognized the blonde currently hiding in there with him._

 _"What are you doing here?" They both asked simultaneously._

 _"Is the sheriff still out there?" Caroline whispered._

 _"No I'm hiding in a closet for no reason" Stefan sarcastically whispered back receiving a deadpan look from Caroline._

 _"Seriously what are you doing here?" He asked curious as to how she ended up at a college party on the other side of town._

 _"Well if she sees me I'm going to get in trouble for sneaking out and drinking at 15" She explained slowly as if to a child._

 _"No I mean why are you here... at this party?"_

 _"What I'm seeing this guy who goes here..." of course she is. Typical Caroline it always involves a guy. Okay he didn't exactly know her very well, but he knew her type. And he heard things in passing at school, from Elena and not forgetting his own experience when they first met._

 _"...Why are you?" She asked irritated._

 _"My brother dragged me along" it was true since moving to mystic falls last month Damon insisted he come out with him and stop hibernating in his room. He hadn't made many friends yet he could pretend he was going out with instead so he eventually caved. As soon as the sheriff turned up his brother was nowhere to be found so he decided to hide here._

 _"So is Elena here too?"_

 _"No, I think she's with Bonnie tonight"_

 _"Oh" she looked sad for a minute looking at the floor before raising her head and smiling. It was clearly fake, but he didn't know her, he wasn't going to question it._

 _They both shifted uncomfortably as Caroline fell against his chest. He felt the warmth of her body move through his shirt. His heart rate suddenly quicked. Breathes becoming shallower._

 _"Sorry" she squeaked moving to take a step back hitting against the wall._

 _"It's okay" he responded as he did the same. The tight space left their bodies still flushed against one another. He looked around the tight space irritation building again. Deep breaths._

 _"I'm gonna kill Damon" he muttered more so to himself._

 _"Damon's your brother?" Caroline asked as her face scrunched._

 _"Yeah. Why?"_

 _"No reason, it's just your so different. I'm mean he's so... and you're so... you know?" She made gestures with her hands and face while barely being able to move in such a tight space looking ridiculous._

 _"Yeah" the corner of his mouth twitched upwards at her attempt of an explanation._

 _"Really, cause I have no idea what I'm talking about" she gave him a confused look._

 _"No, yeah that's what I got" there was a second pause before they burst out laughing. Maybe it was the effect of the alcohol, because Stefan never laughed. Not really, especially with strangers he barely new._

 _"Shhh, do you hear that"_

 _ **Tap tap tap tap.** He narrowed his eyes as he recognised the sound that seem to emanate closer to him then outside the door. He looked down to see Caroline's right foot tapping against the hardwood floor as her leg shook._

 _"I think that's you"_

 _"Oh". She put her hand on her leg to stop it shaking. When she relaxed she lifted her hand. **Tap tap tap** her leg continued to shake. It was probably because she was nervous._

 _"Sorry"_

 _"It's okay..look it probably won't even be that bad if she finds us. She might not even tell your parents" he tried to reason with her in an attempt to calm her down before she gets them both caught. She looked to him confused._

 _"She is my mom"_

 _"What? Who is?"_

 _"The sheriff" she responded in a 'duh' tone._

 _"Ahhh"_

 _"Yeah.. she's totally gonna kill me, and I lied to her face! Oh my god I'm so dead.. I'm dead. And she'll probably tell my dad, and he's already mad at me as it is. He's gonna take off with his new family for good now. My mom is gonna yell and What am I going to do? O my god she's gonna kill me" she started panting in breath as her hands went to cover her face. She looked to be having a panic attack._

 _"Ok calm down, it's gonna be fine she won't find us if you calm down"._

 _She wasn't calming down. If anything her breathing became more erratic. He needed to take action before she passed out. He grabbed hold of her wrists pulling them from her face as he looked directly into her eyes encouraging her to take deep breaths copying him._

 _"Just breathe... breathe"_

 _She shut her eyes tight shaking her head, so he grabbed hold of her face and forced her to look at him again._

 _"Yes, yes just breathe.." She took deep breaths mimicking his actions and after a few minutes her breathing completely calmed down, though his hands remained firm cupping her face._

 _"How did you do that?" She innocently whispered._

 _"I get them too... panic attacks...I'm.. I'm kinda claustrophobic"._

 _Her eyes glanced around the room before falling back onto him as he gave a tight lipped nod._

 _"Sometimes I sing ...it helps" She said in a small voice as he smiled._

 _"You don't wanna hear me sing"_

 _They both breathed a sigh of relief as his thumb subconsciously started stroking her cheeks in a mind of their own._

 _"Thank you" her soft vulnerable voice cause a knot to form in his throat as he swallowed hard and removed his hands from her face. Both still reeling from the incident looked to each other as tension filled the room. Suddenly the door swung open revealing a very unhappy looking sheriff._

 _"Hi mom"._

* * *

"Do you remember the time Liz caught us-"

"- Stefan.." Caroline interrupted.

".. I know what you're trying to do, but I don't really feel like going down memory lane right now. So could we please just finish what we came here for so I can go back home". And her walls were back up.

"Of course".

He continued taking the blood samples as an awkward silence engulfed the room. The tension could be cut with a knife as they both looked to avoid eye contact. He couldn't tell if she was fidgeting due to her fear of hospitals or for fear of letting him close again after the moment they just shared.

* * *

 _"Friends?"_

 _"Yeah, I mean you're dating Elena, and she's my best friend so i think that makes us friends?"_

 _"I don't know... I'm kinda a loner"_

 _"Oh I would never have guessed" she teased. The evidence being him currently sitting alone at a table in the mystic grill on a Saturday._

 _"Look you don't have to I just thought it be nice to. You know you really helped me out last week and I figured I owe you one"_

 _"Oh so you're doing me a favour?"_

 _"No no it's not that I..." She stopped noticing the slight smirk on his face. "You're teasing me" he gave her a light smile as she fell into the seat next to him._

 _"I just figured it would be nice you know. If nothing more then to be friends with someone who can calm me down from my panic attacks. You seem to know what you're doing, and it got me thinking. The first stage of friendship is trust. And after what you did for me... I trust you. So I figured. Why not? I'm mean we don't have to be if you dont want to. I can be a bit full on and I -"_

 _"Caroline" Stefan amused interrupted her ramblings_

 _"I'm doing that thing when I don't stop talking aren't I. You should just tell me to shut up when I do that. I mean I do it all the time. I'm starting this friendship all wrong aren't I should just go see if-"_

 _"Caroline-" he laughed out her name._

 _"We're friends" he smiled at her as she gently smiled back eyes wrinkling at the corner._

 _"Good"_

 _"Good"_

 _"So now that we're friend's..." Oh here we go he thought to himself. The real reason she came over to talk to him. She wanted something._

 _"... I was thinking maybe you could teach me how you calmed me down last week... so I can do it for you seeing as you're claustrophobic and all. Although i don't suggest you go hiding in any more small spaces"_

 _"Yeah like i had much of a choice. And are you sure you're looking for a friend and not like a mentor or something?"_

 _"Call yourself what you want. Besides we both know I'd be one of those proteges that surpass the teacher" she gave a proud smile._

 _"No doubt"_

 _"Besides... if you're my mentor I can be you're sober sponsor"_

 _"My what?"_

 _"I mean, it's 10 in the morning and you're drinking bourbon" she announced reaching over taking a gulp of his drink._

 _"Wow ...What a great sober sponsor you are" he teased. She shrugged a shoulder smiling at him before they burst into laughter._

 _"Do you start all friendships off like this?" He asked wide grin on his face._

 _"Like what?"_

 _"Like you're making a business deal"_

 _"No normally I don't give people no choice"_

 _"Oh so this is me getting a choice?"_

 _"Not really" . They both started laughing again drawing the attention from a few people in the bar. She reached forward for another gulp of his drink. Yeah she would be a terrible sober sponsor._

 _"They really need to start checking id's in here before my mom finds out"._

 _He gave a tight lipped nod._

 _"So what did she say when she took you home last week?"_

 _"Oh you know the usual. Im very disappointed in you Caroline. No parties for month" she complained imitating her mom's voice to which they thought was hilariously bad._

 _"On the up side she didn't call my dad though" she tilted her head and smlied._

 _"How bout yours?"_

 _"Oh they didn't say much" a silent second passed them before Caroline spoke up._

 _"You know this friendship thing works both ways Stefan. I mean it can't be all me stealing drinks and getting you to calm me down from panic attacks... I'm your friend too"_

 _He looked down at the table for a second before meeting her eyes thinking about what she said earlier. Friendship is based on trust, and something in those piercing blue eyes was telling him to trust her. So he took a leap of faith._

 _"Actually my mom spent the entire night calming my dad down and Damon took off before he could scream at him anymore" he gave a grim smile gulping down the rest of his drink._

 _"Did they blame Damon?" He nodded._

 _"Yeah I'm kinda the golden son..." he rolled his eyes at that ".. So Damon got in trouble for leading me down the wrong path."_

 _"Huh... I wish I had a brother to blame everything I do wrong on..."_

 _He gently laughed at her response._

 _"... I mean seriously. It would make my life so much easier"_

 _"Seriously?"_

 _"O my god, we've been friends five minutes and you already sound like me. I think I'm rubbing off on you."_

 _"Caroline ... shut-up"_

 _She did her delicate laugh, before giving him a light smile while a wide grin spread across his face. She had literally snapped him out of his self pitying before he even realised he was doing it._

* * *

"Caroline you need to calm down"

"Easy for you to say you're not stuck inside this giant robot thingy shooting lasers at you"

"Its just a CAT scan and it's not gonna shoot lasers at you. I just need to take a scan of you for precaution ok... For my own piece of mind"

She continued fidgeting in the machine. While Stefan stood aggregated in the conjoined room watching her through the window. It was exhausting he was trying to help her for gods sake and she was fighting him every step of the way. Did she need to be so stubborn. He gets it, she hates him.

"Will you just **trust** me?"

He could see her shut her eyes and take a deep breath. Stefan recognized her telltale sign of someone aggressively annoying her as she bit the inside of her cheeks as her eyes flew open.

"Will you just hurry up with this stupid thing"

"I can't do it if you don't calm down"

"How the hell an I suppose to stay calm?".

That question hurt way more than it should. It was a slap to the face for Stefan who prided himself on **always** being able to calm Caroline down no matter what. Whether it was her neurotic tendencies or one of her panic attacks he could always do it. No matter what was going on in their lives he could do that for her in the ways she would stop him brooding so much and actually have fun. It was always instinctual. He didn't know how to describe it. Even before he really knew her they had that connection. On paper they shouldnt work. He's all serious and broody, while she's all bubbly and bright. He carries a dark cloud around with him while she's all sunshine and rainbows. They shouldn't work but they do. Or rather did.

The concept of them holding onto that was shredding as the minutes moved on and her breathing became more erratic. His presence was if anything making her worse and it was crushing. Crushing him that through everything they've been through she couldn't trust him anymore to do that for her. To be what she needs.

He closed his eyes head leaning back stretching his neck.

"Why don't you sing?" He questioned in a small voice.

"What?" She asked in a small voice.

"Sing? You know it use to calm you down when you were all nervous... You still sing right?"

There was a beat of silence before she answered.

"...Of course... But I'm not gonna sing in front of you it's weird"

"I've heard you sing like a million times Caroline"

"Yeah well that was different... and it's weird I'm not gonna sing in some hospital room in front of strangers"

"It's only me here"

"Exactly".


	6. Ch 6: No Place I'd Rather Be

**A/N : Sorry for the wait. Thank you all so much for your reviews, follows and favourites. It really means a lot so THANKS. This is the longest chapter to date and I'd love to know what you guys think so please review (if you want). Thanks again for reading I hope you enjoy 💜**

* * *

 _"Hey"_

 _"Hi"_

 _She looked down at her emerald green ball gown running her hands smoothing down her dress nervously. He grabbed hold of her delicate hands in his._

 _"You look great by the way" He smiled to her reassuringly._

 _She took a deep breath to calm herself before the grin spread to her dimpled cheeks._

 _"Thanks"_

 _"Why are you so nervous? You've been preparing for this since you were what, 12?"_

 _"More like 6..." she lightly chuckled at his amused face. "... I was a difficult child"_

 _"You're still difficult" He teased light heartedly._

 _"Shut up" she playfully shoved his shoulder"._

 _"Ladies and gentlemen. Please be welcome to join the contestants and their partners to the dance floor while the judges deliberate their results for the new Miss Mystic Falls"_

 _Stefan crooked the arm of his elbow in offering of Caroline to link arms with him which she did. They walked to the centre of the room where he comfortably wrapped his arm around her waist pulling her in flush against him. Her left hand found place on his right shoulder while the other hand was firmly clasped in his._

 _The music began to play in the background and they fell into a comfortable rhythm with one another as they danced gliding across the floor._

 _"Huh"_

 _"What?"_

 _"It's nothing, just...Stefan Salvatore dancing. I should take a picture"_

 _"Oh trust me I think there will be **plenty** of photographic evidence I'm going to have to endure because of this". Stefan's gaze filtered over Caroline's shoulder quickly to his overly enthusiastic mother's spectating position by the side of the dance floor, wide grin camera in front of her face. He spun their positions so Caroline could catch a glimpse which resulted in a fit of giggles she hid by burrowing her face into Stefan's shoulder. A light chuckle escaped his own lips as they continued to sway to the music._

 _Stefan spun Caroline gracefully before pulling her flush to his body in a flaring move. Caroline's foot took a wrong step on Stefan's toes._

 _"Sorry" she squeaked out in concern. Stefan bit back the pain._

 _"It's fine."_

 _He felt her hand squeeze his as her eyes searched across the room and her breathing began to quicken._

 _"Hey, you ok?"_

 _"Yeah, yeah I'm fine thanks"_

 _He gave her a searching gaze._

 _"No, seriously... I'm just a bit nervous is all"_

 _He gave her hand a gentle squeeze._

 _"You're doing great so far you know"_

 _A wide smile spread across her face as she bit her bottom lip._

 _"Thank you"_

 _He gave her a nod to signal an 'of course'._

 _"No, seriously. I know this is probably the last place you want to be . And you most definitely would of preferred to of been Elena's escort today. And I know I practically forced you into doing this with me. But I just want you to know I really appreciate it... You're a really good friend Stefan"._

 _"Does this mean you're splitting the prize money with me when you win this thing?"_

 _She lightly chuckled, before setting a serious gaze._

 _"Don't get ahead of yourself"._

 _._

 _They fell back into a comfortable rhythm with one another moving in sync, like one._

 _"So was Elena mad?"_

 _"No, no of course not. She completely understood". Or so he hoped. In all honesty his relationship with Elena was a bit strained at the minute. She hasn't in so many words told him she was mad, but then again they hadn't been speaking many words to each other in general lately._

 _He offered to be Caroline's escort to this pageant a couple weeks ago when he saw her desperation after finding out Matt would be stuck at work. Him and Elena where fighting and he guessed part of him wanted to spite her for it. Leaving her dateless for today was a bit harsh thinking back on it now. He remembers them making up that night and the guilt and shame he felt when he told her he couldn't take her._

 _It worked out in the end though. He managed to convince his brother to escort Elena as there was 'no way in hell' he was taking Caroline. Elena probably wasn't best pleased, but she didn't protest so he figured it was all worked out. It's not as if he was deliberately choosing Caroline over Elena. He knows Elena would be pleased that Caroline wasn't forced to do this alone, and he would pretty much be around Elena all day anyway so why not?_

 _"Really?" She nervously questioned. Stefan nodded to which she breathed a sigh of relief._

 _"Good... I really didn't want upset her. Especially after it meaning so much to her with her mom and all"._

 _Stefan gave a light nod. He didn't really think about that. He knew her mom was the reason Elena entered the competition but he never got the feeling she really wanted to be here. Caroline was so passionate and excited every time she spoke about it. Her whole face lit up and inspired everyone around her. Elena never really showed that excitement. Or may be she was better at hiding it?_

 _Was he neglecting his girlfriend? Is that why they were fighting so much lately? He wanted to ask Caroline. If there was anyone's opinion he valued on this it would be hers. She knew him and Elena as individuals and together. She's the best potential person to give him relationship advice. He trusts her advice, her reasoning was always logical and similar to his. He should ask her._

 _He looked down to piercing blue eyes , mouth hung upon and poised to ask._

 _But he didn't. At the end of it all, Caroline was Elena's friend too. He would never put her in a position where she would need to choose between the two of them. She was fiercely loyal to a fault. He knew at the end of the day, no matter the petty arguments she had with Elena, they had been friends since birth. She would choose her side if it came down to it. Then **he** would loose her as a friend._

 _The nerves must of built up throughout the day Stefan started to tell himself as his hands began to sweat. He was panicking over his relationship troubles with Elena he convinced himself when his breathing quickened as he felt his throat begin to tighten._

 _He was beginning to panic. He knew the warning signs of a panic attack when he felt one. His eyes darted across the room at the hundreds of spectators about to witness more than they bargained for. He had no escape._

 _As he waited for the inevitable a series of hums emitting from the blonde in his arms brought him out of his thoughts. He swallowed the knot in his throat allowing it to open up again. He felt as if he could breathe again. Her series of hums evolved to a catchy tune she was now singing. He glanced down at her but she looked lost in her own thoughts. He's never heard her voice before. It's the most beautiful thing he's ever heard._

 _She sounds like an angel. So pure and ethereal. Something deep inside Stefan began to stir. A tingling in the pit of his stomach. A feeling that probably should be worrying him. He should fear it as a side effect of the panic attack he was experiencing moments before, but Stefan has felt panic attacks before. He's never felt this in his life. This was most definitely a new feeling and strangely rather than scared he felt relaxed. Like he was meant to feel this. The pull was so magnetic, so addictive, he loved the feeling. To say he was at complete ease was an understatement. The only way he could describe it was like finally finding home after being lost for so long._

 _Stefan shook those thoughts out of his head. What was he even doing. Caroline's voice was so enchanting it literally pulled him to another place in his mind. A place his body yearned to reach for reasons his mind struggled to understand. All through a few angelic notes._

 _Caroline was one of those people that can do that to you. She could turn your whole world upside down in a fleeting moment, and for someone like him, who felt comfortable in control it was scary. She could tip his world on it's axis and he would never see it coming. It was terrifying. But it was invigorating. Strangely addictive. That passion, that excitement, that smile it pulled you in like a siren and surprisingly she's brought nothing but light into his life. She was full of surprises._

 _She was calming him down with her angelic voice, quite literally saving him from a panicking hell. She said before that she sings when she panics. He never thought it would work to calm him. He never knew it was a sound he needed to hear in his life until this moment._

 _"Don't stop"he whispered._

 _"What?"_

 _"You were singing"_

 _"I was? Sorry, I didn't even realise I was doing it"_

 _"I didn't know you could sing"_

 _"What?" Caroline looked startled by that._

 _"You have an amazing voice"_

 _"No I don't -shut up" she blushed looking to the floor and Stefan couldn't stop the smile fixed on his face at the adorable sight._

 _"I'm serious"_

 _"Anyway" her cheeks still held a rose blush._

 _"Don't be embarrassed" he teased._

 _"Im not embarrassed, you're embarrassed" he chuckled at her childish retort._

 _._

 _"So I know you said Matt was stuck at work, but I find it hard to believe you couldn't find another date in that time."_

 _She feigned shock._

 _"What kind of girl do you take me for?"_

 _"A very determined one"_

 _"Truth is I'm really glad it's you that's here. I think you're the only person that is capable of keeping me being even remotely calm at the moment"_

 _"This is you calm"_

 _"Shocking I know. For some reason I just look at that brooding face and I guess I.. I think.." She struggled to find the words as her mouth hung open and shut before she shook herself out of her thought._

 _".. I guess I think life can never be bad enough for that level of brooding, and it gives me a little perspective"_

 _He lets out an involuntary laugh to her reasoning causing the brooding look to fall off his face._

 _"Honestly though.I'm so happy you agreed to help me with this. And you are most definitely the only person I want to do this with"._

* * *

"Right, so the good news is that the bump on the head will be fine. Keep the ice pack on it to bring the swelling down". Caroline nooded solemnly listening to Stefan's prognosis. "I'm gonna send off some of these blood samples though, just as a precaution because of these dizzy spells. Nothing to worry about. Just make sure that you're eating properly, and getting plenty of rest and I'll give you a call when I get your results"

"Oh, there's no need you can just send them in the post". Caroline responded grabbing hold of her bag.

"Caroline, I might have to talk them through with you"

"Why, is something wrong?"

"No, it's just hospital policy to talk through the results with you"

"Can't one of the nurses do that?"

"No, I'm afraid it will have to be doctor" he was lying through his teeth. He wanted to make sure she was okay, and make sure he can see her again. Panicking this was the only thing he could think of. It wasn't like he was lying about sending off the blood samples but that was more for his peace of mind rather than her health. That and everything that happened with Liz.

"Well... can I get a different doctor?" Her trying to avoid seeing him was only making him more persistent.

"Nope, I'm afraid you're stuck with me" he stated in a dismissive tone looking down at the documents in his hands.

"What?!... you can't do that"

He looked up at her through narrowed eyes "watch me".

"Stefan" she said in an annoyed tone.

He gave her his stubborn 'i'm not changing my mind' look resulting in a exhaustive sigh and mutter of "whatever" as she stood to leave.

"I'll just get my keys and-"

"No!" She yelled.

"Caroline, I'll drop you home"

"It's fine I can walk" she responded standing up.

"You'll walk?" He raised his eyebrows.

"Fine I'll get the bus"

"What, that's ridiculous I'll take you-"

"Its fine you know what ... I forgot, I already called a cab it should be here any second" she plastered on a fake smile.

"You don't have your phone".

"Right" realisation must of hit her that she already had to borrow his phone to call Damon earlier. She stood still trying to think of her next move Stefan recognized. He grabbed his keys and held out her coat for her to put on. Not having much other choice she violently grabbed her coat from his hands leading him out through the door. He took a deep sigh running a hand over his face. Why was she so stubborn.

* * *

 _"No... No, no, no,no, noooooo."_

 _"Please" Stefan begged desperation in his voice, eyes wide puppy dog in pleading._

 _"I'm not doing this with you Stefan"._

 _"Come on Caroline. You've made me do tones of stuff I didn't wanna do"._

 _"Oh don't play that game with me. The things I want to do are fun and you know you end up enjoying them in the end"._

 _"Oh really. So I enjoyed the time you fractured my ankle when **you** decided we should go bungee jumping"_

 _"At the time you did ! ...even though you didn't stop whining all the way home" she mumbled the last part under her breath._

 _"What about the time you made us go out on your uncle's boat, when I told you I couldn't swim. Hmmm?"_

 _"I was teaching you valuable life skills!" She exclaimed getting defensive over her decision to push him over board._

 _"And the time I got pneumonia when you dragged me on a walk to the falls in the middle of a thunderstorm"_

 _"I told you to bring a jacket"_

 _"I did bring one, you forgot yours and stole mine!" he yelled in aggravation._

 _They're were both silent staring each other down for a few moments before Caroline caved and looked to the floor. She shut her eyes taking a deep breath in._

 _"I'm sorry. I just wanted to have fun this weekend" she mumbled ashamed._

 _"This can be fun" he reasoned._

 _She gave him a deadpan look._

 _"Ok not fun per say but we can make it fun.." Caroline didn't look very convinced._

 _"..Hey, it's me and you... It's always fun". A small smile crept it's way across her face, that she fought to stay down. It told Stefan he was wearing her down. Just a little more convincing should do it._

 _"You know it's always a free bar at these snooty parties"._

 _"But the people that go are always so mean to me. They look at me like I'm something stuck on their shoe" she mumbled disheartened. Truth is whenever Caroline was nice enough to come to his parents posh over the top parties she was looked down on. Being the daughter of a single parent sheriff didn't hold much wealth at these high society functions. The people in attendance always thought they were above everyone else. Sterotypical fat suits and trophy wives who had nothing better to do then past judgment on the most genuine, kindness person he's ever met. His best friend. It made him so angry even just thinking about it._

 _"I won't leave your side the whole night. And if anyone so much as looks at you they'll have me to answer to"_

 _"Oh yeah that scary" she muttered sarcastically._

 _Stefan continued to give her pleading eyes. He didn't want to do this alone. He didn't want to go at all. It would be a lot more bearable with Caroline there. Everything was better with Caroline. She rolled her eyes at him._

 _"Fine"_

 _His eyes lit up as a wide grin spread across his across his face._

 _"But do not leave me alone". He shook his head vigorously determined look in his eye._

 _"Not even for a second."_

* * *

"Thank you for today" Caroline begrudgingly muttered from her place in the passenger seat. It was clear she was still a whole other level of angry at him

"It's fine Caroline. And for what it's worth... I really am sorry". There was a stern silence as tension engulfed the room. Clearly she wasn't in a forgiving mood.

"I know you don't want to forgive me right now but... I hope one day ... we can be friends again?" His voice let out a vulnerable tone. He was putting himself out there, latching on to any hope she could give him but that was cut short by the angry laugh emanating from the blonde next to him.

"Oh wow... **seriously**?" His eyes shifted focus from the road to the dagger eyes she was currently giving him.

"Stop the car" she demanded.

"What?"

"I said stop the car!"

"Why?"

"Cause I just realised I don't want to spend even another **second** having to listen to your bullshit"

"Come on Caroline-"

"No just pull over I can walk from here"

"I'm not letting you walk home I'll-"

"STOP THE FUCKING CAR!" She screamed. He pulled over to the side of the road as she pushed open the door and flung herself out of there as fast as her legs could carry her. As she stormed of marching down the side walk Stefan rolled down the passenger window driving the car down along the side of her.

"Have you calmed down yet?" He questioned while her gaze did not differ from looking straight ahead.

"Oh, great we're back to the ignoring I exist" her face shook from side to side as she bit down the inside of her cheeks. He recognized this as a Caroline on the verge of an angry explosion.

"Come on just get back in the car" she tightly shut her eyes taking a deep breath trying to fight that anger burning at the surface as she bit the inside of her lips forcing the words to not be released from her mouth.

"Caroline I'm not gonna just leave you out here on your own" she abruptly stopped and turned to face him.

"Why not? You were happy to do it five years ago right? What's changed Stefan? You can't just show up here and expect to be part of ours lives. We moved on. We had to. You _left_..." her voice cracked slightly at that before she forced herself together in a more deadly tone "...You left and you weren't coming back. So why don't you do what you do best and run away again, so we can get on with our **blissful** life **without** you".

* * *

 _He stood frozen in place, in front of the fireplace staring at the chair. Her chair. Memories that use to be great, now only that much more painful. The glass of bourbon in his hands did nothing to ease the pain, nor the bottle he just finished. Only memories of her flashed through his brain._

 _How did his life come to this. Pining after the girl who no more than a couple months ago was merely a friend. She ruined that. If she wasn't so disregarding of his feelings. Yes he told her he just wanted to be friends but did she have to move on so soon. Did she have to go back to **him**._

 _His relationship with Caroline had never been so complicated. When his father told him he felt like he was being stabbed in the chest. How could she do this to him? She knew him better than anyone and she knew it would hurt him. Even if he hadn't said it in so many words. He was mad. She didn't even have the guts to say it to his face._

 _A knock at the door brought him out of his thoughts. He sensed it was her. Come to share her delightful news. He ignored it hoping she would just go away. He didn't want to see her._

 _"Stefan?" She meekly poked her head out the door. His grip on his glass hardened as he felt the warmth of the fireplace on his face, burning his anger. He shut his eyes tight and took a deep breath trying to ignore her presence._

 _"Stefan?" She sheepishly asked as she closed the door behind her and walked closer to him. She clearly wasn't going away until they talked and he had so much built in anger that he was sure to explode._

 _"What do you want?" He angrily huffed out, even though he knew exactly what she intended to say._

 _"There's something I need to talk to you about"_

 _"Don't bother. My father already explained things" he turned to face her finally as a stunned expression filled her face. He stood there with the most hateful gaze he has ever given her. He has ever given anyone, as her mouth opened and shut trying to find the words._

 _"I... He... Oh..."_

 _"Yeah" he grimly smiled ._

 _"Can we talk about it?" She asked in a small vulnerable voice. He didn't want to be delicate with her. He wanted her gone._

 _"No". He wanted the pain crushing him to stop and the only way he knew how was to block her out. His mind told him she hadn't done anything wrong but his heart was shattered to pieces. He never thought Caroline could do that to him._

 _"Stefan?"_

 _"It's fine Caroline, I really don't care" he forced his face to stay straight, keep stern. pretend this wasn't killing him on the inside. The second bottle of bourbon he was half way through drinking helping to numb the pain only slightly that his entire world was shattering to pieces._

 _"Why?" She asked her voice still small. Almost pleading with him._

 _"Because, it doesn't matter anymore... I'm leaving,"_

 _"You're what?"_

 _"My dad got me a job in New York . I'm doing my residency there and getting the hell away from here"._

 _Her eyes filled with water with water as he took every ounce of strength he had to show no tears in his own eyes._

 _"But... What about me?" He gave an aggravated sigh as his fists clenched at the side of his body. Her pleading with him to not leave her. To stay his friend. He couldn't do that anymore, he couldn't watch her move on with her life. Make the mistakes he knew she was making._

 _"You're the one I'm trying to get away from" he knew it sounded harsh, but he knew Caroline. You needed to push her hard for her to leave you. This is the only way to get her away from him so he could wallow alone, over the life he could never have._

 _"Oh"_

 _"Yeah, you know the way out"_

 _"Can we at least talk about it... I don't know what to do" her voice started to crack and tears fell down her cheeks. He took a involuntary step toward her before stopping abruptly and turning away. He couldn't look at her without wanting to hold her. And he couldn't hold her. Not now._

 _"Stefan?" The desperation in her voice was evident but he kept his back to her so she wouldn't see the tears forming in his eyes. Why was she here? What difference does it make. She made her choice. She knew it would destroy whatever it was they had. She knew they couldn't come back from this._

 _"Please... I'm scared". He ran a hand over his face. The longer she stayed here the angrier he was getting. She was the one breaking his heart and here she was looking for comfort. What did she want? For him to say it's okay. I forgive you. Of course I can be your friend. I'm happy you're back with **him.**_

 _He wanted to. God he wanted to go back to her. To be friends, to be anything. He couldn't imagine a life without her. A life without that smile. Those eyes. That laugh. She had completely changed his life from the day he met her. She brought light to his life, and chased away all the darkness. He didn't want to let that go. To let her go._

 _But he was dying. He felt like she reached into his chest and crushed his heart. He couldn't live like this any more._

 _He continued facing the fire forcing himself not to look at her. Not to let her back in. To start his life fresh, new, without this pain. A life without Caroline Forbes starts now_ _._

 _"Get Out"._

* * *

As she turned to continue marching down Stefan reeled from the idea of being out of her life for good. He's done that. He's been doing it for five years and it's been a living hell. He thought of her everyday. He tried with all power of his being to get over her. He can't. He's accepted that. Truth is he hasn't really been living a life and he didn't want to go back to that.

He's been living in the darkness for so long. He wanted to come home. He wanted Caroline. And that spurred him into action. He jumped out of the car and started chasing her down the street.

"So that's it right you want me out of you're life for good?"

"And he finally gets the message!" She dramatically sighed.

"Well... what if I don't want that? What if I want in?" He could see her jaw clench as she continue straight forward not meeting his eyes.

"Caroline." He demanded as he grabbed her arm and turned her to face him. After a beat of silence her eyes narrowed to slits as she finally looked at him.

"I don't think you've even thought of what you being here would do to us. I mean you undoubtedly weren't interested for five years and made that perfectly clear when you left and everyday since." That made Stefan angry, because as guilty as he was for abandoning her at the end of the day he had reason to. And thinking back to that made him snap.

"You know what I'm getting tired of this. It wasn't all my fault I left, ok. You need to take some responsibility-"

"Me?... take responsibility" she relased a humourless laughed as barged past him hitting his shoulder as she continue her journey home. He ran a hand over his face in exhaustion.

"Look Caroline what you want me to do huh, just stop making me guess and tell me so we can go back to being friends again"

"Yeah well that's the thing Stefan. I don't want that. I don't want to hear voice, I don't want to see your face and I sure as hell do **not** want to be your friend".

"Caroline, look I know you're mad but-" Stefan began in desperation before being interrupted.

"-I'm past mad Stefan... I **hate** you. And I don't want you back in our lives". He took a deep breath as she continued walking without looking back. His feet suddenly glued to the floor and eyes blurry as he watched her disappear in the distance.


	7. Ch 7: Friends and Family

**A/N : I'm so so so sorry for the wait. But longest chapter so far😁. I promise next update will be a lot quicker. I've already got most of it written so hopefully before next week.**

 **I got a review last chapter regarding the timeline of the flashbacks. Honestly they are kinda all over the place. I try to connect them to the present based on an emotion or line, but i'm not sure if that always comes across. I guess you can read them as the memories going through Stefan's head seeing as the story's in his pov. (Sorry if they don't make sense). As they are, Stefan and Caroline hooked up on the night of the flashback in chapter 1 (ie he just broke up with Ivy). Him and Elena broke up in highschool, and all the friendly moments between S and C happened in the years prior to their hook up. (Spoiler: there wasn't many fluffy moments between them after their night together).**

 **Hopefully they will start to make more sense as the story goes, if you can puzzle them together, but please let me know if they don't make sense. I could make up a timeline if you get completely confused, or I could just get rid of the flashbacks if you want? Sorry for rambling. You're reading an essay before you get to the story. I'll stop now. Hope you enjoy and let me know what you think.💜**

* * *

 _"He's an idiot"_

 _"You have to say that you're my best friend" Caroline sobbed. Her cries muffled through the duvet she covered her whole body with. Hiding away in a shell._

 _"I say that cause it's true. Letting you go... pfftt ...He's moron is what he is. And a dick"_

 _An involuntary snigger escaped her lips. Finally unveiling herself so he could now see her face._

 _Her mascara was running down her cheeks. Eyes blotchy and bloodshot. Hair was disheveled all over the place due to her crying under the covers on her dorm room bed for 2 hours. She was still beautiful though. Only Caroline could pull off the broken hearted look._

 _The sight of her in heart break was like a punch to the gut for Stefan. He felt like some one had stab_ him _in the chest. Seeing her in pain caused him pain. Plain and simple. Without hesitation he jumped up from his position on the foot of the bed and wrapped his arm around her shoulders. He pulled her face to his chest, as she drenched his t-shirt with her tears._

 _The warmth radiating off her burned into his skin. An all too similar tingling sensation fluttered in the pit of his stomach. Side by side they sat at the head of the bed as she cried over the broken relationship of a man who never deserved her anyway._

 _Eventually her tears began to run dry. She vigorously wiped away under her eyes finally pulling herself to sit up straight. His arms suddenly felt empty and cold without her in them._

 _"God, I'm a mess, and I should of seen it coming. Of course he was cheating on me"_

 _Stefan's nostrils flared as he ran his tongue over his teeth. Anger was burning under the surface again. How could he do that to her? What was he even thinking? Caroline was perfect. Who would ever want anyone else? He couldn't understand it._

 _If it was Stefan who was lucky enough to have her he would worship the ground she walked on. He would **never** look for another. And he sure as he'll wouldn't ever be stupid enough to let her go._

 _"I'm such an idiot"_

 _"You're not an idiot"_

 _"I mean camping with his '_ family _'? His mom hates the outdoors"_

 _"Hey, mayor Lockwood throws a wonderful garden party every year" he joked trying to lighten the mood. Anything to see that radiant smile of hers. Ease the pain she was going through even just a little bit._

 _"Hayley is such a mistress name as well" Caroline continued, ignoring his passing comments._

 _"The mistress-est" his eyebrows bowed together at the word he made up trying and failing to be funny._

 _"He said I was crazy"_

 _"Well you can't fault him for that " she gave him side eye for that comment but ranted on anyway._

 _"And saying they were just friends" she carried on ignoring his running commentary to everything she was saying._

 _"The best lovers are" his eyes widened at that comment he let slip and he cautiously looked to see the reaction she had to it, but she seemed oblivious to any meaning his words might of held._

 _"I can't believe he would do this to me"_

 _"I already told you he's an idiot"_

 _"You never liked him"_

 _"I never like anyone " that forced an unwanted chuckle out of her and it brought a smile to his face to hear the sound he didn't realise he so desperately needed to hear._

 _"Can you just be serious for a minute" she whined. The irony not lost on him._

 _"You're right. I'm sorry..." His thumbs moved to swipe a few remnants of tears off her cheeks._

 _".. but that dick doesn't deserve these tears."_

 _"I mean I knew we were growing apart. And the whole going to different colleges thing was gonna be hard. But I really thought we were gonna make it you know.."_

 _He did know. He's been in the exact same position Caroline's sitting in right now. To think your life was destined one way. To have the person you expect to spend forever with leave you for another and just not see it coming. When Elena left him, he didn't think he would ever be able to move on. In all honesty he's never let himself be so open to love since. He was always closed off before, but now he was on a whole new level. The only person to even come close to bashing down those walls was sitting in front of him. Bawling her eyes out for another._

 _He felt so bad. Knowing there was nothing he could do to fix this for her. For her to not go through this heartbreak. Cause he would if he could. He'd do anything for her. And seeing her in pain was killing him. All he could do was be there for her. And he would do that. No matter what, he would help her through this, like she helped him through his own heartbreak._

 _"And now what am I suppose to do? Just move on without him. How do I do that when all I have is this sadness, and anger and-"_

 _"-Me." he interrupted reaching out and covering his hand with hers "... you have me" she lifted her gaze to his eyes and he saw the tears glistening ocean blue. His sight drifted down to her lips when she gave a small smile in recognition of his words. He forced his eyes to lock deep into hers again, boring straight into her soul._

 _"... And I will **never** leave you"_

 _"Do you really mean that?" Her voice wavered, vulnerable in tone._

 _Her heart was in tatters. She was probably at the lowest point he's ever seen her, and yet here she was letting him_ in.

 _Did he mean it? The corners of his mouth twitched upwards, as his head g_ _ently nodded his head._

 _He admired her so much in this moment. The strength she held to let another man into her heart after what she just went through. To not push him away the way he tried to push her away when he broke up with Elena. He was scared back then to show vunerability to her, but she was so much stronger than him. Here she was letting her walls down for him to see and it made his heart leap._

 _His mind reflected on memories of his own heartbreak. When Caroline was there for him in ways he could never truly thank her enough for. Back then they were friends. Not as close as they are now, but a defining moment their relationship. He knew back then how lucky he was to have her in his life, and now he can't imagine his life without her._

 _Looking into her hypnotic eyes, the bouncing halo of curls falling delicately across her shoulders, the rose plump of her lips. And it wasn't just her physical beauty that hit him. He always knew how beautiful she was, but admiring her inner strength. How kind and strong she grew to be. And how happy she made him, whenever he was with her. His breath hitched. The beginnings of his mind reeling to catch up to the emotions his body has been trying to tell him for some time now._

 _Because he was starting to accept it. The want he has to be close to her all times of the day. The need to reach out and touch her growing more with each passing second._ The jealousy at any man that as much as looks in her direction and how even the thought of Tyler Lockwood made his blood boil. He doesn't really know when he started feeling this way.

 _Has he always felt this way? He always thought Tyler was a jerk to Caroline throughout their relationship and she deserved better. Could he do better? She deserved someone who would love her unconditionally. There's no question he would always do that. The emotions that have slowly been swirling into his consciousness where building to this pivotal moment. The awakening in his thoughts that she was finally single again shook his mind into possibilities their relationship could take._

 _"So, I guess that makes us BFF's right?"_

 _"BFF's?" He mumbles in a daze of thoughts._

 _"Best Friends Forever Stefan". She laughed cheekily at his ignorance, leaning her head on his shoulder as they sat side by side at the head of the bed._

 _Friends Forever? His heart sank. That was the opposite direction his mind was taking him._

 _What was he doing? He almost made a complete fool of himself. Here was Caroline, completely vulnerable and unguarded and he tried to take advantage._

 _What was he thinking? This was the first time since they became friends that they were both single. That unchatered territory for their relationship was just messing with his head he reasoned with his thoughts for even going there. Seeing Caroline hurting just made him reach for anything he could do to fix it, including all preposterous thoughts of relationships. Caroline had moved from stranger to friend to best friend and his mind jumped to the next inconceivable thought. Their relationship has evolved into the most important thing in his life. She was the most important person in his life. He wasn't going to risk loosing her. He couldn't_.

 _So he forgave himself for his momentary slip in judgement. Pushed all thoughts of Caroline ever being anything more then the best friend she was to the back of his mind. Locked it in a cage never to be opened. And Caroline would never learn of the disturbing trip his mind took moments ago._

 _Caroline seeing him as only a friend might of stung a little in the moment, but in the long run it probably saved him a heap load of misery for the future. So they would remain_ BFF's _as she put it. Cause having Caroline in his life forever, now that is something he's on board with_.

* * *

It was the morning after his argument with Caroline, and he felt terrible. After she left him standing there on the sidewalk he eventually moved his feet from the glued position they found themselves in and walked himself straight to the nearest bar. Of course that led to a foggy night of drink after drink. Now he woke to a throbbing headache and throat that felt like nails scrapping down the insides.

As if that wasn't bad enough none of it blocked out the memory of Caroline walking away from him running through his mind. With an loud groan, he pulled himself up to get some aspirin from the bathroom. As he shut the medicine cabinet he glimpsed his first look at his reflection that morning. Eyes were red and puffy. Hair was disordered. He looked rough. There was no way he would make it into work today. He decided to call in sick, and went back to bed trying to escape the nightmare his life had turned into.

"I hate you. I hate you. I hate you" rang round in Stefan's mind. He moved to chase after her. Force her to see sense, but she was already seeing sense. Everything he touched he destroyed. He pushed her away. He left her. These were the consequences he was forced to face. She moved on. He was no longer part of her life.

His mind reeled from the days events. Flashed back to seeing her unconscious on that kitchen floor. His life could of ended right there. He's never known fear quite like it. That fear began to creep back into his mind and was enough to unstick his feet from the floor. In fact it did more than that. He was running. Chasing after her. Her beautiful voice echoing crippling declarations of hate through his mind causing his vision to cloud. His throat tightened. He struggled to breathe and began panting in breath, but he couldn't stop running.

His chest tightened. He felt his heart was tightening in a cage. It carried on beating erratically and was crippling him in pain, but he couldn't stop running.

Suddenly his movements came to a complete halt. He saw blonde halo curls in the distance. He couldn't move again. She continued walking away, not looking back.

He tried to speak out. Yell, call for her. Anything to gain her attention, but no words escaped his lips. Instead he felt the cage tighten further on his chest and his throat closing so he could barely breathe. He heard the echoes of an angelic laugh surround his ears. _Caroline_. His feet were able to move again and he was sprinting this time. Faster then before. Head whipping from side to side. On an endless loop of searching.

The phone ringing in the distance woke him from his nightmare. He calmed his breathing down taking a deep breathe. He could still feel the hangover banging through his head like a thumping drum. The ringing once again screeched through his ears. He groaned reaching his hand out to it blindly.

"Hello?" He irritatedly answered.

"Stefan my boy, good news! I talked to a few old colleagues of mine in LA and there is a job waiting for you as head of department"

"What? Dad we've talked about this" Stefan rubbing a hand over his face.

"Look son. I know I wasn't happy about you leaving New York, but I'm willing to compromise"

"Dad, it wasn't about New York. I wanted to come home. Besides, I have a job"

"This will be much better for you Stefan. I'm telling you. It's a much greater position and the money is extremely attractive"

"I don't care about the money. I got this job on my **own** "

"uhhh!... why are you so determined to do things on your own"

"Dad... I don't want to have this argument again" a beat of silence passed between them as Stefan rubbed his eyes standing up from the bed letting out a silent yawn.

"What I don't understand is why you can't get a job here in New York or anywhere else for that matter. I mean you barely even applied. And they were more than happy to keep you on where you were doing your residency."

"I don't see what this big deal is you use to like Mystic Falls. You said you wanted me to run this hospital one day"

"That place is a death trap Stefan." He suddenly burst in a stern voice. "It will eat you up and spit you out."

Stefan took a deep breath. Clearly his father would never be happy with what he was doing, no matter how hard he tried. He learned to accept that and finally broke free from his puppet strings when he decided to leave New York. His father still hadn't adjusted to this new found independence.

"I saw Damon yesterday" he casually mentioned trying to change the conversation.

"What?"

"Yeah he was at Caroline's house and he-"

"Caroline?"

"Yeah I ran into her too. She was-"

"- anyone else?"

"What? No just them.. I guess you don't expect to-"

"Stefan, I really must insist that you leave that place now before you get in too deep"

"Dad. I'm not gonna leave right now ok. I just started working at the hospital here and I really like it there. Speaking of which actually, I was having some trouble getting into some files the other day"

"Files?"

"Yeah I was looking into Caroline's records and I couldn't get into them. Something about needing your password or something? I don't know how you managed that. You and computers huh?... I was just wondering if I'm gonna have a billion patient files I'm gonna be locked out of that will give me a headache later..." There was silence on the other end of the line.

"...Anyway I was gonna get IT department to sort it out but seeing as you're calling, do you think you remember what the password was?"

"It was such a long time ago Stefan why on earth would I remember such a thing?" His father got agressively defensive.

"Ok. Calm down I was just asking in case you remembered. It's fine I already got the receptionist working on it. We'll sort it. Must of been some computer fault. It doesn't really matter anyway. She's gonna be fine. Like I said it was just in case we have any problems with anyone else later."

There was an awkward pause in conversation where neither party spoke. A sudden thought he had yesterday popped into his mind again regarding Caroline.

"Why didn't you tell me about Liz?"

"What?!" His father asked stern shocked voice. Clearly he hadn't expected that question.

"Caroline's mom? I asked you to keep an eye on her before I left. Why didn't you say she died?"

"Oh. That. There was nothing you could do for her Stefan. You had just started in New York, you didn't need anything else to worry about."

"I asked you to tell me if she got any worse" Stefan stated slightly irritated. He gave clear instructions to his father when he left. He might of made his mind up on leaving Caroline behind five years ago, but hearing about the sheriff's cancer shook him to his core. He only left on the grounds that his father would tell him if she got any worse.

"And I knew exactly what you would do if I did..." his father retorted in an equally irritated manner. "... We all know you would of been on the first plane back to that trollop-"

"- Hey!.." Stefan yelled in interuption coming to her defense.

"..Don't talk about her like that" he warned aggresively.

"I call them how I see em Stefan. We all know what she is. Your weakness. You never could see past that pretty face. Even when she pretended to be your friend, earnt your trust, made you think she really could love you til someone better came along. She broke your heart Stefan. It would do you well to not be so naive and remember that"

Stefan was seething with anger at his fathers words. He didn't like anyone talking about Caroline like that. His fists clenched at his sides. He forcibly needed to stop himself from throwing something, anything across the room. Preferably this phone so he wouldn't have to continue this conversation.

But it was true. She did break his heart. His thoughts had been so caught up in the fact that he abandoned her five years ago, part of him forgot the reason he left. Or may be it was him not wanting to remember. Pushing away the pain. Cause that's what he did back then. Until he couldn't hide from his feelings anymore, so he just hid from her.

Thinking back to it now just brought back more pain. More jealousy. More anger. He didn't want to think about it anymore. He needed another drink.

"Anyway, dad i got a splitting headache so i'll call you back later-"

"-Wait!" His father interrupted in a panicked voice.

"What? What's wrong?" Stefan asked concerned.

"Stefan you must come gome at once" Stefan let out an exhaustive sigh.

"Dad. I'm hanging up now-"

"-You're mother!" His father called out before could hang up the call.

"What about her?"

"You need to come home for her Stefan."

"I **am** home dad. Besides mom probably hasn't even noticed I'm gone"

"That's not what I meant"

"Then what did you mean?" Hequestioned tiredly

"She's... she's.. sick! Yes. Your mother's sick Stefan."

"What do you mean sick?"

"I didn't want to tell you this over the phone, but she might not make it past the week"

Stefan's legs caved out in shock. Luckily he was standing just in front of his couch and fell into the seat. He ran a hand visciously through his hair.

"What's.. what's wrong with her?" Stefan stammered out, his voice slighly cracking.

"I'll give you the details when you get here. But get here soon Stefan"

"Yeah.. yeah of course" he agreed as if in a daze. His mother was sick. Dying. She seemed completely healthy a few weeks ago when he saw her. But she has been having trouble with her heart over the past few years. And his father was a doctor. One of the best there is. If he says it's bad, then it's bad.

Of course he needed to be there. This was a time for the family to pull together. He needed to see if there was anything he could do. Say goodbye. But it wasn't only him that needed to say goodbye.

"I'll uhhh.. I'll tell Damon. Book a flight straight out there"

"Don't bother with Damon. Just come straight home"

"I have to tell Damon. He has to know dad. He's her son too."

"He made his choice a long time ago Stefan. He's no longer part of this family. Leave him. I'll send the private jet for you" and with that his father abruptly hung up.

Stefan sat overwhelmed as his phone fell to the floor. He lost all control over his hands movements as they vigourously shook in front of his eyes. His mother was sick. Dying. His mind couldn't accept it. A world without his mother? What person could accept that. He knows his father just told him no but he needs to tell Damon. He may of cut ties with the family but it could be his final chance to get closure. He can't imagine how he would feel if he wasn't told.

He sprung to his feet in action. Picked up his phone, before realisation hit that he didn't actually have his number. He thought of how he could get in touch with him. He shut his eyes, taking a deep breathe when his mind pointed out the only logical way he could he could think of. _Caroline._

* * *

 _"Mom. Stop!" Stefan whinned._

 _"Graduating from high school is such a special time Stefan. And I need photo's to send your grandparents" his mother demanded, positioning the camera in front of her face again in preparation to snap a photo of him._

 _"You know i'm not_ technically _graduating til this afternoon"_

 _"I know. And I could not be more proud of my little boy" she gushed pinching his chin between her fingers._

 _"And what about your other little boy?" Damon questioned as he sauntered into the room._

 _"Of course i'm proud of you too Damon"_

 _"Well. That makes one for two on the parent front. Look at us" he hooked his arm around Stefan's neck, ruffling his hair._

 _"You're father is proud Damon. He just struggles to show it"_

 _"Yeah. That and a modicum of any other human emotion"_

 _"Ease off him Damon. He's trying" Stefan intterupted in his fathers defense._

 _"Yeah trying for_ you _. Otherwise he's a complete dick to everyone else"_

 _"Ok. That's enough. Me and your father are **both** so proud of you boys. Stefan's graduating, soon to start college. And Damon, you're starting your police training... my boys are all grown up" his mother started to tear up._

 _"Heyyy"_

 _"Mom"_

 _The brothers begged._

 _"I'm sorry. I just love you both so much.." her head shook, wiping away all signs of her sudden overemotional gooeyness before turning back to her sons, demanding they pose together for a photo._

 _"...Now both of you smile. I need your grandparents to see those beautiful happy faces of yours"_

 _"You know if we_ were _actually happy grandchildren, we wouldn't have to pretend smile on every picture you take" Damon grumbled causing Stefan to snigger, earning them both a disaprroving look from their mother._

 _Damon rolled his eyes before wrapping his arm around Stefan's neck again._

 _"Say cheese" he sarcastically cheered._

 _With a flash their mother snapped the picture, victorous smile on her face._

 _"Why are you doing that now anyway? I thought you'd take them later at the ceremony?" Damon questioned._

 _"Well I need to make a photo log of the whole day Damon. Now have you got your suit ready for this afternoon?" She murmured while distractedly inspecting the photo on her camera._

 _"You know I was thinking of just going in my birthday suit" he joked._

 _"Whatever you want as long as it's ironed"_

 _Stefan chuckled at his mother's obliviousness to the double meaning behind those words._

 _"Oh. I'll definitely iron it out" he sneered._

 _"Good. Stefan do you need yours ironed too?" His mother questioned, ignorant to Damon's dirty humour._ _Stefan's eyes widened._

 _"Nope. I'm fine"_

 _"Are you sure Stef? You know you have plenty of time to get a good ironing in." Damon goaded with his trademark smirk. S_ tefan narrowed his eyes to Damon.

 _"I'm good. Thanks.." he turned his attention back to his mother ".._ Actually I was just gonna head out so"

 _"Where are you going?" She questioned._

 _"I was just gonna meet up with some friends before the ceremony this afternoon"_

 _"He says friends as if he has more than one" Damon piped in._

 _"You know your father wants us all to go together"_

 _"Yeah, I know. I'll be back with plenty of time"_

 _"Can't it wait to later?"_

 _"It'll be quick. I promise"_

 _"What's the big deal? You two are going to the same college anyway. It's not like you're moving very far away from eachother.." Damon taunted while stretching out his legs, falling to the sofa "..In fact_ _if you two could just elope far away from_ me _that would be great"_

 _"Shut up" stefan exasperated mildly annoyed with Damon's constant teasing._

 _"Go on then. What prezzie did you get Blondie for graduation? Barbie dream house maybe? Or Malibu Stacie pink converible? Oh please tell me it was-"_

 _"-Damon stop teasing your brother. And you can take Stefan to Caroline's"_

 _"Me?! Why can't he drive himself?"_

 _"I left my car at Caroline's last night."_

 _"Well he can walk. I'm not taking him" Damon stated._

 _"Yes you are." His mother comanded._

 _"Why?"_

 _"Well, remember last week when you broke my grandmother's vase?"_

 _"How many times? **IT WASN'T ME!** "_

 _His mother raised an eyebrow to him in a challenging manner._

 _"Fine.." he exhaustively sighed ".. I'll take him. But_ **ONLY** _because I need to see the sheriff._ **NOT** _because I broke any stupid vases" Damon stood up to leave._

 _"Hurry up before I change my mind..." he muttered angrily to Stefan ".. or get blamed for something else I didn't do" he yelled before slamming the front door shut behind him. His mother blinked at his dramatic exit before turning to Stefan._

 _"And that's why you're my favourite son" she joked. Stefan gave a sympathetic look and open his mouth to speak before she raised a hand to signal him to stop._

 _"Don't worry. I know he loves me really" he gave her a gentle smile at that, before they could hear sounds of Damon beeping the car horn outside._

 _"I better get going"_

 _"Make sure you're back here and dressed before 3. You know your father hates to be late"_

 _"Ok, 3. I'll see you both later." Stefan gave his mom a kiss on the cheek as he passed her moving to the front door to leave._

 _"Don't be late"_

 _"I won't"_

 _"Love you"_

 _"Love you too mom"_

He opened the front door to Damon yelling out his car window.

"GET YOUR ASS IN THE DAMN CAR BEFORE I TIE YOU TO THE HOOD OF IT!"

* * *

Butterflies were fluttering out of control in his stomach at the thought of seeing her again as he sat in the car driving to Caroline's apartment. He was a mixed bag of emotions, cause he was both really excited to be seeing her, but equally if not more so terrified.

He didn't really want to have to face her _today_. Besides the fact that he probably looked a complete mess in his still hungover state, she didn't want to see him. She wanted space and he respected that.

He knew he had no right turning up back into her life after 5 years and expecting things to go right back to normal. He was being selfish thinking that they could. He didn't want to be selfish with her. He wanted to respect her wishes. To give her the space she so clearly wanted.

That didn't mean he was giving up on winning her back. It just meant that he understood if there was any chance for their relationship to repair and heal from old wounds, he needed to give her space. Let her wrap her head round the fact that he was back. Show her he was serious about sticking around this time. Then she could make her decision from there. Hopefully accept him back in her life. But may be that was just wishful-thinking.

As well as that, his phone call with his father had brought up some buried feelings of resentment as the reminder of why he left continued to flash through his mind. Painful images ran on a loop in his mind, which further added to his confused state of emotions. He felt as if he was drowning. He wanted nothing more than to push these thoughts out of his mind but he couldn't. Just like five years ago he couldn't erase the images out of his mind. Running did nothing to rid this burning sensation in the pit of his stomach. His head was a mess. He couldn't get a grip over it.

He didn't think that it could be possible. To want someone in your life so badly, knowing they hurt you, and had the powers to break your heart again in a seconds notice. He struggled on a normal day to understand the inner workings of his feelings, but today was a whirlwind. He was all over the place and seeing Caroline would definitely mess with his head even more so, which he didn't really need to deal with right now. But he didn't exactly have a choice. He needed to go for his family. For his mother.

Pulling up outside her apartment, his hands began to mildly shake. His mind still hadn't registered that his mother was serriously sick. Possibly dying. It was as if he was a zombie getting here. He doesn't even remember the car journey here. As if his body was going through the motions but now started to wake. Looking out of his window he galced up at up at her building. Closing his eyes and taking a deep breathe he opened the car door and made his trek to her front door.

It was taking every bit of strength he had in him to keep himself together in this moment. Emotions threatened to overwhelmed him. Images of his mother, sick and dying conjured up his mind. He didn't know if he was panting in breath from his climb of the stairs or a panic attack was starting to creep in.

He just had to keep reminding himself to stay strong for his mother. She would want both her sons to be with her at a time like this, no matter where her relationship with Damon currently stands. She would want to see him and he would have to bring him to her. He had to do that for her. He would do anything for his mother, and this was the only way he knew to get in contact with Damon. He could already imagine the hateful look on Caroline's face when he turns up at her door. Damon probably won't be happy to see him either.

But fractured relationship or not, Stefan knew his brother loved their mom. If she was dying he would need to see her. He had a right to say goodbye. So Stefan plucked up every ounce of courage within him to stand here, in front of Caroline's appartment door for the second time in two days. Poised to enter the lions den for his brother. He took a deep breathe.

His hands clenched in a fist as it rose positioned to knock on the door. His mind flashed images of last time he was here and how shocked he was to see the last person he expected to see. This time ironnically he wished Damon would answer so he wouldn't have to face Caroline again today.

She's going to be so mad at him for doing the exact opposite of what she asked of him yesterday. Showing up just one day later at her door wasn't exactly staying out of her life. He would worry him poping up when not wanted could damage their relationship even more, but he doesn't think it's possible for them to get any worse. He knew they were on a fine line right now. If he pushed too hard, he could loose her for good. And once he told her he was leaving for New York again, he couldn't predict her reaction. But once he explained she would hopefully understand. It wasn't like he wouldn't be comming back. He hoped she would understand that. But what if she didn't?

That paused his movements. His fist mid-air poised to knock.

This wasn't about him, or Caroline. This was about his dying mother.

Just as he was about to knock, he was stunned further. The door flung open to someone entirely different. He knows he was praying it wouldn't be Caroline at the door, but God was surely testing him here. He felt the anger building to his core. He was seeing red. The man he hated more than anything. The man who Caroline choose over him five years ago.

Klaus Mikaelson.


	8. Ch 8: The Reasons I left

**A/N : Me again 😆 . Just wanted to say a quick thank you for reading. Hope you're still enjoying the story. Chapter ran a bit long (again!) so im splitting it up. Next update will be really soon. Enjoy 💜 (and let me know what you think)**

 **Fair warning, there might be some slight Klaus bashing this chapter. Personally I have nothing against Klaus or anything, and I actually was a klaroline shipper (and still klefaroline til the end). But as the story is from stefan's pov, and i wanted to show his jealousy over the situation, his preception of Klaus isn't shown in the best light. It may change as the story progresses though, who knows?**

* * *

 _"Hello. Old friend"_

 _"Klaus Mikaelson. As I live and breathe"_

 _Klaus held a knowing smirk as Stefan's eyes widened in shock. They held a heated gaze for a brief moment, before Stefan's mouth spread a wide grin. His arms opened wide, welcoming him into a hug as he gave him a clap on the shoulder in greeting._

 _"What are you doing here?" He asked pleasantly surprised._

 _"I just popped in to see an old friend. Is that a crime?"_

 _Stefan gave a knowing look._

 _"Alright, fine. Dear old dad had business to attend to with_ your _father in fact."_

 _"My father?"_

 _"As it happens Giuseppe seems very keen on investing in your future"_

 _"Don't remind me. I'm already set up to start studying at Whitmore next month. What more does he want from me?"_

 _"Well it appears he's making investments in Mystic Falls Hosiptal. He's looking to my father to set him up a portfolio. Obviously planning on getting himself on the board there at some point"_

 _"Uhh. All I hear is I'm gonna run that hosiptal one day. Hard works important Stefan. Make sure you have your priorities right Stefan". Stefan rolled his eyes at the pushiness of his father. If anyone could understand the situation he was in it was Klaus._

 _"Tell me about it mate. I've got my own dear old dad down my ear hole about my future every two seconds. But still where's the fun if in not rebelling every once and a while aye?" Klaus questioned raising a shot glass to Stefan. Stefan picked up his own glass before announcing a toast._

 _"To controlling fathers"_

 _"Here, here!"_

 _They both had there shots as Klaus signalled the bartender another round, and Stefan's eyes wondered the room for Caroline. She was still nowhere in sight._

"So. How's the rest of the family _?"_

 _"Ah. Well you know us Mikaelson's. Never a dull moment. Elijah and Finn are around here somewhere. Kol's being yet again reprimanded by mother and Rebekah sadly couldn't make it tonight, but sends her love... Enough about them though. Let's talk about that ravishing creature I saw you arrive with."_

 _"Oh Caroline?"_

 _"Caroline? Not the elusive Elena then? You do surprise me Stefan. I didn't think you were the type to have more then one girl a time."_

 _"I'm not. Elena and I broke up"_

 _"Oh I'm sorry to here that mate. I seem to remember you being quite smitten with her last we talked"_

 _"Yeah well. She slept with my brother so" Stefan downed another shot before ordering the next round of drinks. Eventhough it's been months since his break-up with Elena it's still a bit of a saw subject. It's not that he's not over her, he completely is now thanks to Caroline, but his relationship with his brother still hadn't fully recovered yet. They're getting there, but it's still a bit of a sensitive subject._

 _"Still though. It looks like you landed on your feet with that blonde bombshell"_

 _"Oh. No Caroline's just a friend. My best friend actually"_

 _"Well in that case you must introduce me to her"_

 _Stefan scoffed at that._

 _"Caroline means a lot to me. I'm not gonna let you love her and leave her"_

 _"Would I ever?" Klaus feigned shock to which Stefan gave a pointed look._

 _"Oh i've missed you Stefan. No one else quite understands me like you do."_

 _At that point Stefan searches the crowd for Caroline. He promised her he wouldn't abandon her tonight, and he knows how much she hates attending his parents swanky parties._

 _"Actually speaking of Caroline, I should probably go find her. I only promised to get a her a drink so-"_

 _"-No need. Here she comes"_

 _Klaus signalled over his shoulder and he turned in time to see her approach. Klaus was right. She did look stunning tonight, not that he hadn't already noticed before Klaus pointed it out. He always noticed how beautiful Caroline was. And when he showed up at her house to pick her up earlier today, he was speechless at the vision she was. The floor length, midnight blue gown she wore was elegant and simple enough to show her natural beauty. Her golden locks were twisted into a loose updo he wasn't use to seeing compared to her regular loose curls. He was having an internal debate to which hairstyle he prefered when he forced himself to stop. What was he doing? Why was he suddenly so obsessed with her hair? Point is she looked ethereal, and everyone knew it._

 _"Hey"_

 _"Hey. Where have you been? I thought you weren't going to leave me alone for a second tonight?"_

 _"Sorry. I went to get you a drink and ran into an old friend...Here." He handed her the flute of champagne before gesturing towards the man beside him._

 _"Caroline this is Niklaus Mikaelson. Klaus, Caroline Forbes."_

 _Klaus took a hold of her hand to place a delicate kiss on her knuckles. Stefan resisted the urge to roll his eyes at the flamboyancy of the gesture while Caroline awkwardly chuckled._

 _"It's nice to meet you"_

 _"The pleasure is all my mine love". He held a seductive smirk that made Stefan slightly uncomfortable._

 _"So how do you two know each other?" Caroline asked._

 _"Klaus and I met at boarding school"_

 _"Was that before you came to Mystic Falls?"_

 _"Yeah. Just before. I had to beg dad to let me go school closer to home when we moved"_

 _"Oh? I didn't know that. He was always so supportive of you when you applied to Whitmore"_

 _"Yeah. Well I think he started to like the idea of keeping me close. Keep an eye on me. And Whitmore's not to far from here. So."_

 _Stefan had a gulp of his drink. Seeing this Caroline gave a slight nod of the head, eyes gentle in understanding to which Stefan responded with a grateful smile. Their silent communication that he didn't want to talk about it anymore and she understood._

 _They could always do that. Just read eachother in the moment. A lot of people couldn't understand how they did it and in all honesty neither could he. All he knows is that the two of them could have whole conversations without ever exchanging words. And sometimes it closed them off to the world around them. Like in this moment. He felt like it was just the two of them in the room, gazing into eachothers eyes. That's until Klaus cut into conversation next to him._

 _"So Caroline, will you be attending college also?"_

 _"Yeah at Whitmore. Same as Stefan" she held a beaming smile at that._

 _"Another doctor in our midst?"_

 _"Ughh. No. I can't stand hospitals..." Stefan recognised the sheepish look she gave him from not thinking before she spoke. He gave her a wink in reassurance she was fine to tease him in front of Klaus. Usually she wouldn't question it but in front of this crowd she never really knew what to expect, or how she'd be judged from her behavioural tendencies._

 _"..Actually I'm a drama major."_

 _"Ahh. Very interesting. I would love to watch you take centre stage." She rolled her eyes at his cheesy lines. Acting more like her regular self._

 _"Make sure you're this eager to buy some tickets for my first show then"_

 _"Sign me up for the first row love"_

 _"Yeah? Ok. I'll sit you right next to my_ boyfriend _" she stressed making it clear she wasn't avaliable. The statement sent mixed emotions to Stefan. On one hand it amused him that she was turning down Klaus' advances but on another level it brought an angry reminder of another man that didn't deserve her._

 _"Ahh. And where is the boyfriend?"_

 _"Tyler's on a camping trip with his family"_

 _"See. More fool him. Leaving you open to be taken advantage of by men such as myself. You know if you were mine, I would take you with me. And it wouldn't be a trashy camping trip. I'd take you to see the world. Rome, Paris. Tokyo?"_

 _Caroline laughed at the temerity of it all, while Stefan stood awkwardly observing the pairs weird dynamic from the sidelines._

 _"Oh. Wow! Just to be clear. I'm too smart to be seduced by you"_

 _"Well that's why I like you. But come on Caroline. Small town boy, small town life. It won't be enough for you"_

 _Stefan's jaw clenched and he gritted his teeth. It was really starting to annoy him. Klaus didn't know Caroline and here he had the audacity to pretend like he did._ **He** _knew Caroline and she didn't want that. She also made it pretty clear she had a boyfriend. He should respect that. Caroline is off limits._

 _"Well, I'm starting college. Getting out of that_ 'small town' _for a bit. I think that's enough for me right now"_

 _"Ahhh. Starting college. Often the start of the demise of many a relationships"_

 _"You really don't quit do you?" Caroline asked astounded._

 _"When I see something I want. I intend to get it. No matter what"_

 _"Oh really?"_

 _"But of course" he responded like every streotypical spoilt rich kid that got everything he wanted._

 _"And what do you want?" She seductively whispered._

 _"Quite simple. You." She chuckled amused at his bolshie attitude, all the while Stefan was seething._

 _His excitment from seeing his old friend had suddenly diminished, and he was aggrevated by his persistence in trying to charm Caroline. Maybe it was envy of the confidence he displayed in seeing something he wanted and going after it. Cause Stefan could never do that. What he_ could _do however was get himself and Caroline out of this situation._

 _"You know what? I promised mom me and Caroline wouldn't disappear, so we should probably head back" Stefan cut into the conversation._

 _"Of course. It was good seeing you mate. We'll meet for a drink soon"_

 _Stefan staged a stern smile giving a nod before Klaus turned to Caroline._

 _"And it was a pleasure meeting you Caroline.." he moved to kiss her hand again and Stefan actually did roll his eyes this time. "... and I'll definitely be seeing you again"_

 _Caroline's eyebrows stretched upward, clearly taken back by Klaus' persistent forwardness._

 _"We'll just have to see about that" Caroline teased before turning back towards the party, side by side with Stefan._

 _"Well he was an interesting character to an otherwise lifeless party"_

 _"What the hell was that?" Stefan asked still shocked and mildly anoyed by their flirty banter._

 _"What?"_

 _"You have a boyfriend"_

 _"Yeah who I haven't in 2 months" she mumbled half heartedly._

 _He gave her an alarmed look. To which she looked down avoiding eye contact._

 _"Relax. It wasn't like I was making out with the guy. It was just harmless flirting"_

 _"Trust me Klaus is not harmless." Her brows scruched together as she finally met his eyes again._

 _"I thought he was you friend?"_

 _"He is it's just. I know_ how _he is Caroline and... I wouldn't trust him with you"_

 _She gave a small grateful smile._

 _"Don't worry Stefan. I'm with Tyler.."_ Yeah another guy he doesn't trust _Stefan thought._

 _".. And I know guys like him too. I'm not gonna fall for it... I promise."_

* * *

"Klaus! You forgot your.." Caroline voice echoed before she saw Stefan standing at her door.

"..What are you doing here?" He stood frozen in position glaring at the pair. His jaw clenched, anger burning through his veins. Of course he was here. Part of him believed after all this time she would of realised what a mistake she was making. Hoped she would of woke up one day in the past five years and realised that she deserved better than this. Than _him._

But alas, she was Caroline. Martyr of the lost causes. Doomed to go down with all sinking ships. Cursed with that damn optimism to see the illusioned good in everyone. She refused to give up on anyone, even when it would cost her everything. Sacrificing her own happiness for the devil, hoping to save him. And Klaus was like a leech. Born to suck the light right out of her. And she was just lying down and letting him. It infurated him before. But the sight of him _here_ just made him sick to his stomach.

"Mate. I didn't realise you were back in town" Klaus held a conniving smile, and Stefan snarled at the use of the word 'mate'.

He wasnt his mate. In fact they hadn't been mates for a long time, and he had no interest of _ever_ being his mate.

"Yeah. Been back a while now. You didn't tell him Caroline?" Stefan sneered, at least hoping to stir some trouble in their relationship. Because why should _they_ be happy? Why should Klaus of all people get to live the life he always wanted? It seemed it may be working juding by the evil glare Caroline was giving him, but he couldn't tell if Klaus was affectted in any way as his eyes remained fixated on hers.

He used the heat of his stare to send her a disappointed look he knew she would be able to read. He couldn't tear his glare away from her. He hadn't expected her to meet his scowl. Expected her look away, avoid all eye contact. Instead she was unashamedly looking him dead in the eye, simultaneously biting the inside of her cheeks.

"It never came up" she smugly retorted.

"How long you back for?" Klaus genuinely questioned.

Apparently he was oblivious to the tension between them. Of course Stefan wouldn't put it past him for this to all be an elaborate act as part of some grand schemed master evil plan in which only he selfishly benefits from. Screw everyone else, screw their feelings and screw their happiness. He would bulldoze over everyone else to get what _he_ wanted. Always has. It never really use to bother Stefan before until it brought himself and the people he cared about into danger of having their lives torn upside down.

"Oh. For good" Stefan factually stated not missing the eye roll Caroline reacted with from the corner of his eye. Her arms were crossed. Defenses fully up. Protecting herself from all emotional damage he could cause. Stefan laughed at the irony of her protecting herself from him when she let the incarnation of the devil sleep in her bed.

"That's great mate..." Klaus responded grabbing the phone Caroline held out in her hand for him while distractedly browsing through it. "..Listen I'm running late, but we're having a party tonight at the grill. First rounds on me" Stefan shook his head to protest. He wasn't going to even be in town tonight. He needed to go to New York to see his mother but even if he didn't, _He_ was the last person he ever wanted to have drinks with.

Klaus raised his hand to signal him not to bother protesting.

"... I'm not taking no for an answer. Today, 5 o'clock at the grill." he made his way passed him towards the elevator and pushed the button.

"Thanks again Caroline. I'll see you later?"

"See you tonight" She waved him goodbye giving him a warm smile, but the smile soon fell from her lips. Eyes narrowed to slits as she shifted her attention to Stefan.

"Seriously, what are you doing here?" She agressively interrogated.

"I'm looking for Damon" he countered.

"Right, well I'm pretty sure he wants to talk to you about as much as I do. So."

She moved to shut the door on his face, before Stefan reached his hand out to stop her.

"Caroline. I've had the past couple days from hell and _all_ I want I to speak to Damon ok. So get him out here." He demanded his patience starting to run thin. All he wanted was his brother out here so he didn't have to face her right now. He didn't exactly have time for her pissy, time wasting attitude.

"Well he doesn't live here" Caroline quickly stated, seeming to want this convesation to end as quickly as he did in that moment as she moved to shove the door in his face, before he forced a hand to it once again.

"Well I don't exactly know where he lives" he tiredly snapped back, running a gruelling hand through his hair.

"Err? He lives at your old house" she proclaimed as if it was obvious.

"The old boarding house? Dad said he sold it to some old couple from Nebraska"

"No he gave it to Damon a couple years ago"

Ok. That's weird. Why would his dad lie to him? And why would he give the house to Damon after he disowned himself from the family? It didn't make any sense.

"But he'll probably be at work now anyway" tiredly reasoned.

"Right and where's that?"

"The police station"

"Wait i'm confused I thought he dropped out of his police training course"

"Yeah, he did. For a couple years actually, but he went back to it. He's a cop now"

"Right"

Stefan silently realed from that information. He was working at the police station. The station right next door to the hospital he worked and his appartment five minutes away. He just drove 20 minutes out of the way. What an vexatious wasted trip.

"Are you done? Cause I've got things to do today"

Now was the hard part. He knows she isn't gonna want to here this. He doesn't want to say it. But he should tell her now. Just in case she finds out from someone else and all hell breaks loose. That's the way these things usually tend to go.

But how does he tell her he needs to leave again? How does he tell her his mom's sick?

"Actually. I-I kinda needed to talk to you too."

She raised her eyebrows in a 'get on with it I don't have all day' manner. Her arms were once again crossed in a defensive gesture. Putting her defenses up from him. Emotionally he made her put her guards up and it made him sick to his stomach.

"The thing is I-I... I need to go back to New York. Just for a few-"

She let out an unsprised laugh. Like she completely expected this to inevitably happen. Him to leave again. She wouldn't even hear him out. Didn't care his reasons for leaving. Didn't care that his mother was sick, probably dying in this moment. Was more interested in shutting the door in his face.

"Well have a nice trip" she chipperly cheered.

"Come on Caroline. Just hear me out for a minute-"

"I don't need to hear you out. You're leaving again. Great! Good for you-" she declared with fake enthusasim.

"..See you in another five years. Actually you know what do me a favour don't bother coming back". They were in the motions. She kept trying to shut the door on him, he kept pushing back. Begging her to hear him out.

"-It's just for-"

"I get it Stefan. It's fine. Go. You don't need my permission. It's not like you asked five years ago when I might of still cared"

"But I want you to-"

"Oh, I get it. You _want_ me to ask you to stay right? To stand here and beg you not to go..." her voice very slightly cracked and he thought he saw the formation of tears glistening her eyes, but that must of been his imagination as she blinked and he could see nothing but pure hate in them. _Hate for him_.

"...Well that certainly didn't work out for me last time and I definitely won't be doing it again" she was pushing to slam the door again.

"-Caroline-" he kept his hand on the door. Puppy dog eyes pleading with her.

"Stefan. Stop."

"Listen, my mom-"

"-I don't want to listen..." she started explaining slowly, eyes wide and condescending as she began to tiredly list the reasons she didn't need to see him today and he knew it was comming. "...I don't want to hear how you're sorry and how you didn't plan this and that you really want to stay. I don't need to hear your fake ass apologies, that mean literally nothing to me and I definitely-"

"-Would you just give it a rest for a second" he was exhausted she was't even hearing him out. Wasn't even trying to understand the pain he was going through at the moment. Didn't care enough to read it in his eyes that something was seriously wrong like she always use to. And worst of all she was still blaming **_him_** for all this.

Because he _**was**_ sorry. She knew he meant every apology he gave her since coming back. She knew him. The problem they were _actually_ facing was she didn't _want_ to forgive. It was frustrating and infuriating that she couldn't, but that was the reality.

It was the exact reason he didn't want to face her today. Because she was _crushing_ him. Everytime he saw her. The hope he had at rebuilding their relationship dampened with each time he saw that look in her eyes. That look that told him how much she hated him.

Did she have reason? Admitedly yes. But it wasn't wholely his fault for the demise of their relationship. At least he apologized for his part. It's more than she ever did.

" **Me,** give it a rest? You have got to be kidding me" she shriek completely astounded.

"Look Caroline i'm **_trying_**. Ok?"

"You're **_trying_**?!" She all but shrieked ".. No you're _**not**_ trying Stefan. I don't know _what_ you're doing. In fact, nobody would of even known you were in town if I hadn't turned up at the hosiptal two weeks ago"

"Of course I would of told you, I was just trying to wrap my head around being back myself first"

"Oh, cause you're the one who's important here right? Nobody else" her eyes squinted together in an irritated scrutinizing manner.

"No of course not-"

"You know what we don't need this in our life right now. So why don't you just just do your thing and run away. So I can get back to my family" she said completely serious. Her words felt like shards of glass to Stefan when she spoke about her 'family'.

 _Family_. Her and Klaus. He didn't think her words could cause much more pain but he felt like she had not only stabbed him in the chest but was now twisting the knife in. Maximising all pain in lethal dosage.

It was in that word he realised he was fighting a loosing battle. Cause she moved on with her life while he stayed stuck. She moved on with Klaus. Built a life for herself in a family that held no space for him and never would, while he did nothing but eat, sleep and think about her.

"And what about your friends huh?" He responded a completely bent out of shape. She didn't even dignify it with a response. Just glared at him disgusted.

"Cause I thought you never gave up on friends. No matter what" he used her own loyal to a fault tendencies against her. Everyone else seemed to benefit from the perks of her loyal nature. No matter what they all seemed to get away with it. If Klaus Mikaelson could take advantage of it why couldn't he.

"That's the thing Stefan. Cause friends don't do that. Friends don't leave each other behind when they need you the most. So may be we were never friends"

* * *

 _They were friends no matter what. Nothing would destroy that. They could still be best friends. Best friends in love. It brought a smile to Stefan's face._

 _His talk with his mother mere moments ago finally opened his eyes. Allowed his fear clouded vision to clear. She calmed his nerves the way only a mother could for her child. Allowed him to cognize how he was allowing fear control him. Fear of loosing Caroline in his life, made him push his feelings of ever wanting anything more. Forced him to run from what's been coming a long time now._

 _His mother helped him realise he couldn't let himself live like that anymore. Deny what he so desperately yearned for more than anything. And he wouldn't let fear control him anymore. He'd finally learned to accept his deep rooted affections for Caroline that were so far from platonic they were sinful._

 _And these feelings he had once and for all admitted to himself_ wouldn't _be the demise of their relationship, but rather transition for them into something more. Something better._

 _Because they could be_ better _. Better than the past loves they've had before. Better then the pain and the heartbreak. And even if it didn't work out which he could see no reason it wouldn't, they would still be friends. And they could survive it. They could survive anything, as long as they were together._

 _He was elated. Buzzing. Adrenaline coursing through his veins, filling him with a need to move_ now _. To tell her how he really felt_. _T_ _hat he was just scared before. He didn't exactly know_ when _their relationship became more than friendship but it_ did _._

 _He came barrelling down the stairs faster than a speeding bullet, before seeing his father in the corner of the room standing in front of the fireplace drink in hand. He had a pensive, troubled look on his face as he gazed down at the heated flames. Normally Stefan would question his worries but he didn't have time. There were more pressing matters to attend to then his fathers brooding nature._

 _"Hey dad. I'll see you later" Stefan hurried out reaching for the door handle. He wanted to see Caroline as soon as possible. He's waited long enough to do this._

 _"Where are you going?" Stefan paused his movements. He held the door open prepared to make his exit as a wide smile plastered across his face._

 _"To see Caroline" he went to make his exit before his father interrupted his movements again._

 _"Stefan wait!"_

 _"What? What is it?"_

 _"I can't let you do that"_

 _"Ok?" He slowly shut the front door and turned, inquisitive look on his face as he gave his father his full undivided attention. Curiousity getting the better of him and putting a pause on his plans._

 _"I don't want you seeing that girl again" his father demanded._

 _"What? What are you talking about?"_

 _"She's not good for you Stefan. And I don't want you seeing her."_

 _"What is this? I thought you liked Caroline" Stefan asked completely astounded by his father's words. They seem to of come out of nowhere._

 _"Trust me Stefan. I'm your father and I know what's best for you, and that girl is not it. In fact I forbid you from ever seeing her again"_

 _"You forbid me?" Stefan sighed a laugh at the audacity of his father. Still telling him what to do at 21 years old. He was just about sick of his intensifying controlling ways._

 _"...Okay, whatever midlife crisis you're going through leave Caroline out of it. In fact leave me out of it too" he moved to once again leave the house. He had more important things to be doing in this moment then pacifying his Giuseppe Salvatore's demanding ways. He didn't need to be wasting his time here._

 _"Don't you dare walk out that door young man. I mean it" Stefan looked over his shoulder to the stern eyes of his father._ He looked rather serious, so whatever he wanted to say clearly meant a lot to him. _He should probably just hear his father out rather then suffer his wrath later._

 _He looked forward at the open door once more. The crisp air fresh on his skin. His freedom one step away. But as much as he wanted to see Caroline at this exact moment, it could probably wait another few minutes. He closed his eyes in frustration with himself at once again missing his chance to get his happy ending._

 _He slowly shut the door, eyes longing at the open space before his view was replaced by cold dark oak wood of the closed door. He faced his father head on, lips pursed in aggrevation of the time he was wasting standing here._

 _"Caroline is not the type of people you should be surrounding yourself with Stefan. She's not your friend and you need to stop seeing her this instant. Cut all ties.." his heart sank at even the thought of that. No way could he ever do that and he was disgusted his father would even suggest such a thing._

 _"..I've talked to some old colleagues and got you a placement to take you residency in New York. You should surround yourself with people more on your level. Get away from this town and everyone in it"_

 _"Yeah. That's not happening"_

 _"Stefan as your father I must insist"_

"-Dad..."

 _Stefan took an audible deep breathe._

 _"... I love her"_

 _"What?"_

 _S_ _tefan smilied._

 _"I love her. I think i've always loved her... And it's about time I told her" Stefan whispered almost to himself as he nodded his head looking to the floor. He lifted his head up, meeting his fathers steely eyes and gave him the biggest smile that's ever stretched across his cheeks. He then took a few steps backwards towards the door, entirely done with this pointless conversation._

 _"Well she doesn't love you"_

 _"What?"_

 _"She doesn't_ love _you Stefan". Stefan bit the inside of his cheeks at that._

 _"Actually i'm pretty sure she feels the same way as I do. So-" Stefan pointed a thumb in the direction over his shoulder indicating his exit was imminent._

 _"Well, did she tell you she's back with that Mikaelson boy?" his brows scrunched together._

 _"What are you talking about?"_

 _"I saw her. Today. With him"_

 _"Well i'm sure it's not what you think."_

 _"They were together Stefan. She's been playing you for a fool. Sneaking around behind your back with your friend"_

Caroline and Klaus. _No way. Especially with everything that's been going on between them recently. He knows she feels it too. All the signs she felt the same way were there. This isn't all in his head. It can't be._

 _"No. Caroline wouldn't do that"_

 _"Well, she did once before didn't she?"_

 _"That was different. That was before we.." his father raised his eyebrows at him expectantly, before Stefan vigourously shook his head in denial._

 _"..No. There's no way. Besides, Caroline_ hates _Klaus now... You're wrong about this dad"_

 _"Stefan. I saw it with my own eyes...I'm sorry son". His father place a firm hand on his right shoulder but it did little to comfort him. It was cold and hard. Quite like his heart. He moved past his father to the drinks cabinet pouring himself a large glass of bourbon, as his father regaled details of the compromising position he caught the two in while having a business meeting with Klaus' father Mikael at their house._

 _Tears began to cloud his vision, but he blinked hard to rein them in. He wouldn't be weak. Especially in front of his father. He was so ready to finally be with Caroline he didn't even bother to question if she even wanted to be with him. He was such an idiot. Of course she wouldn't want to be with him._

 _He gulped down his drink in one swoop before pouring himself another. He kept his_ _back to his father. His numbing words further stabbing the knife in his chest as images he didn't want to picture conjured up in his mind as Giuseppe described in detail the precise scene he walked in on._

 _His breaths became staggered as h_ _e fell in silence to a seat on the armchair by the fireplace looking to the flames as anger boiled through his veins. His father didn't let up on the dirty images he projected onto him of the girl he loved and man he hated. The man she promised to never go back to. His insides were on fire as rage burnt his insides._

* * *

He had reached his breaking point and he just snapped. A blind rage like a fire swept over him.

"You know what. I'm getting tired of this. It wasn't all my fault. Ok."

"What?!" She turned to him her angry stare sending shivers down his spine.

"I mean yeah I left, and I screwed up.. but you have to take _some_ responsibility too okay... it wasn't _just_ me. You _mest_ with my head. You made me push you away" he was yelling all the anger he built up over the past couple of days reaching its boiling point.

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"And I get that I hurt you, but I would **never** do this to you." He carried on determined for her to hear this. She had to realise that the majority harsh words she was giving him wasn't completely justified. Some of it was just cruel.

Caroline looked to him with furrowed brows clearly no clue as to what he was talking about. Was she really that delirious to how he felt all them years ago? Did she not realise how badly she broke his heart?

"I think you should leave Stefan"

"And here you are five years later making the same _stupid_ decisions. I mean it's gonna ruin your life Caroline more than it already has." His thoughts were cut short by the sharp pain emitting from his cheek were Caroline had slapped so hard it was surely to bruise.

She gave him her killer death stare before abruptly slamming the door in his face with full force once and for all. He watched the closed door swallowing hard. Closed eyes, frustrated like hands running vigorously through his hair as his anger turned to despair.


	9. Ch 9: Mother Of All Surprises

**A/N: What? Two updates in two days shocking I know. I've had most of this written for a few chapters now, just been waiting to get there and it's finally here. Hope you enjoy 💜**

* * *

 _He was in complete and utter despair. Downhearted, wretched, hopeless. Had been for a couple weeks now. Accepted the fact that his brother was most likely going to kill himself if he carried on the way he was headed. He had been getting himself in trouble like always. Drugs, gangs now this. He was currently in custody for assualt. A drunken bar fight gone out of control. But this was the second time Stefan had been called into the station to collect him this week alone. He knew this was the life he was destined to live now. Waking up each morning wondering if today was the day he had to pick Damon up from the mortuary rather than the police station._

 _"Stefan. You here for your brother?" Caroline's mom questioned as she entered the room to sit in her desk chair opposite him._

 _"Yeah. Unfortuantely" Stefan mumbled ashamed._

 _"I was hoping to speak to your parents"_

 _"Oh ummm. Well, They're kinda out of town" he lied._

 _Well half lied. His mom was out of town. She went away to vist his grandmother. His father on the other hand was very much sat at home. Oblivious to the troubled activities Damon was up to now. Luckily Stefan got the message on the machine from Liz saying they had Damon in custody first. If his father found out he was in trouble again he doesn't know what he would do to him. So once again Stefan covered for his brother to protect him from his father. He couldn't protect him from everyone though. He couldn't protect him from the new crowd of people he was associating himself with these days._

 _"Oh. Ok. Well, I've got him sleeping it off in a cell"_

 _"Right... Listen, I'm really sorry about-"_

 _"-Stefan. It's not your fault ok. And it's not your job to look after him..." he noded his head in acceptance of those words, but none the less they were pointless. He would forever be looking after Damon. It was the life he was doomed to. It was his_ brother. ".. _he's a big boy. He can handle himself"_

 _"I know. I just, worry"_

 _"Well I've had a serious talk with him, and I think you'll have a little less to be worrying about soon"_

 _His brows scrunched together "Ok?"_

 _"The thing is, we actually have an opening on the police training programme"_

 _"Wait. Police training? Damon?"_

 _"I understand he's not exactly the orthodox choice-"_

 _"-That's an understatment"_

 _"-But I really think he has what it takes. If he could just channel that energy he has into something more beneficial like this, it could keep him on the right path. I think he can really turn his life around."_

 _"You do?"_

 _"Yes" she reassured with a warm smile._

 _"But it's Damon he's never gonna agree to it"_

 _"-He already has"_

 _"He has?" Stefan questioned honestly stumped._

 _"Well after a few words of convincing he saw what was best for his own future"_

 _Stefan nodded pensive in thought._

 _"Caroline didn't ask you to do this did she?"_

 _"What? No. No no no" Stefan gave an inquisitive look as he crained his eyebrow in a questioning nature.. She held a guilty look, which all but confirmed his suspisions. Clearly she was a woman sworn to secrecy._

 _"I really think this will be good for him Stefan"_

 _"No, yeah I agree and we really appreciate it, we do but-"_

 _"To be honest. I think it's more a convenience for us. Having Damon on this side of the law definitely makes less work load for us in the long run."_

 _Yep that was definitely Caroline talking. Stefan held a small smile a big weight being lifted off his shoulders._

 _"Thank you" truly appricative of Liz taking him under her wing. Quite literally saving his brothers life._

 _"Don't thank me. It's him who wants to change"_

 _Stefan nodded at that and as a smile stretched the corners of his mouth as hope began to fill him. Hope of a future with his brother alive. Happy and healthy._

 _"Sheriff we got a 10-14 down on clark street" and officer appeared behind Stefan hovering behind the door._

 _"Alright. I'll be right there"_

 _"Sorry. I'm keeping you from work" Stefan apologized._

 _"Oh nonsense.." she waved off before lowering her voice softly so only he could hear._

 _"..between you and me a 10-14 is cop code for coffe run. My turn to get the doughnuts" she smiled. He laughed at that before standing._

 _"Still, I better let you get back to it. Get Damon home and all that"_

 _"Of course"_

 _"And thank you.." he nodded solemnly ".. really thank you" she gave him a nod,_ warm comforting smile gracing her face.

 _"Anytime Stefan"_

* * *

"Not now Stefan"

"Damon. I just need to talk to you for a second"

"Well leave a message with my secretary" he sarcastically sneered.

Stefan stood in the middle of a hectic police station. The hustle and bustle of the room filled with people so loud he could hardly hear himself think. Damon looked busy in his uniform decked out attire. A small part of him deep down was proud of the fact that his brother actually did it. He turned his life around.

"Damon it's important"

"Not interested"

"Please" Stefan begged.

"Look, whatever it is it's between you and Blondie. Leave me out of it" Damon commanded while skirting round the station office handing over some police file to another cop in uniform.

"It's not about that Damon"

"Then what do you want?" He asked tiredly still running ragged round the station as Stefan followed two steps behind at each turn.

"It's about mom" Damon laughed at that.

"Now i'm definitely not interested" Stefan grabbed his bicep, forcing him to turn and meet his eye.

"Damon I'm serious"

That caused him to release an exhaustive sigh.

"What's wrong with the bitch now". Stefan swallowed the knot in his throat before lowering his voice slightly.

"Is there somewhere more private we can talk?"

Damon didn't respond. Merely trudged off in a different direction to the path he was perviously walking. Stefan took that as a wordless communication to follow him. When he did, Damon led him to a familar seperate room. He was stumped for words for a moment. Being in Caroline's mom's old office sent a cold shiver through him. He guessed he was still digesting the news of her death. It _was_ only yesterday he found out.

"Go on then get on with it. I don't have all day" Damon declared.

"Right.." Stefan shut the door to afford them some privacy.

".. Mom's sick Damon. Dad doesn't think she'll make it past the week"

"What?" Damon whispered. His face went pale, clearly he was taken aback by that news. They stood in silence for a few minutes before Stefan began to feel uncomfortable.

Standing in this room grudged up feelings he didn't want to process on top of everything else he was going through at the moment. He felt the ghost of the late sheriff ever present in this room. What would she of thought of him? He was suppose to be her daughter's best friend and he abandonded her when she needed him the most. Just another man on the long list to leave her behind. He couldn't stand in this room any longer. He felt the ghost of dissapointed eyes on him.

"Dad's sent a private jet to get us back to New York and it's landing in a couple hours to take us to her, so if you want to get your stuff and-"

That shook Damon out of his comatosed state and back into reality.

"-Hold on. You can't expect me to just drop everything to go see her"

"Damon she's _dying_."

"Well she's been dead to me for years. Glad she's finally catching up"

Stefan's fists clenched at his sides wanting more then anything to punch Damon in the face but he held back. He knew this snarky attitude of Damon's was a defense mechanism to cover the love he truely held for his mother. It still angered him to hear him say such things of their mother.

"What the hell is wrong with you" Stefan asked stiffly still holding back the rage he held for his brother at his harsh words.

"Nothing. I'm perfectly fine. But you better get going if you wanna catch that flight" he pointed a finger to the door, with no want plan to go see his dying mother.

"You're just gonna abandon her like that? She's your family"

Damon's brows scrunched andstare hardened. His mouth opened to say something when there was a sudden knock at the door. He tilted his head to see an officer poke his head through the crack of the door.

"Damon come on we got a 10-14 on Clark street"

"Sorry Stef. Emergency calls"

As Damon walked past Stefan he grabbed hold of his arm. He did not go through all this for Damon to just shrug it off and do nothing.

"Damon. You can't just walk away from this"

Damon yanked his arm out of his brother's grip with full force.

"No actually I can. Our mother tossed me aside, without any concern what would happen and then went out of her way to forget us forever. As far as I'm concerned she deserves everything she gets" Stefan's nostrils flared and he shook his head, running a toungue over his teeth recognising the pointless loosing battle he was fighting

"She deserves everything she gets" he heard Damon whisper to himself as he followed the direction of the other officer out of the station.

If Damon wanted to ignore this, he was gonna ignore it no matter what Stefan said. After all he had years to mend the fractured relationship between himself and the rest of their family and gave no indication of ever wanting to do that since he's been back. So Stefan saw no point in chasing after him. He was exhausted even trying to help his brother. He wasn't gonna do it anymore.

* * *

 _"Stefan you ok?"_

 _"Yeah. Yeah I'm fine mom" he struggled to force a small smile to ease her worries, but instead she looked at him with even more concern._

 _"You think I don't know when my little boy's upset" she inquired to which Stefan released an audible sigh._

 _"It's just-"_

 _"-You miss Mystic Falls?"_

 _"Yeah. I miss Mystic Falls" he repeated looking down hearted._ And Caroline, and Damon _he thought._

 _"It'll get better soon... How's your residency going?" She asked trying to change the subject to more uplifting topics._

 _"Yeah it's good I guess. Just hard getting use to it all" he mumbled still down and out. He knew it was for the best that he left but that didn't stop him missing home. Yearning more then anything to go back to life he once had._

 _"Well it's only been a couple months Stefan. You need to give it some time"_

 _"Yeah. Time" he needed to accept that part of his life was over. His time messing about with Damon, having fun with Caroline, being a kid with no life worries was over. He needed to grow up. He couldn't go back._

 _"Look. Your father wanted this to be a surprise but... We're selling the house"_

 _"The boarding house?"_

 _"Yes. We're moving here to New York. Won't it be great? The whole family back together again"_

 _"What about Damon?"_

 _"Damon doesn't wish to be part of the family anymore Stefan. We must respect his wishes. When people don't want you in their life anymore there's nothing you can do to change their minds"_

 _"Is that what you think, or is that Dad talking?"_

 _"Look you have to look forward to the future Stefan. You can't keep looking back. I think we're both a little guilty of that" he looked to his mother who was looking down disheartened. He was willing to bet more then anything she looked the perfect reflection of him in this moment._

 _He reached out to grab hold of hand in comforting fashion, and they each stretched forced smiles trying to cover their pain._

 _"You're right mom. We can't keep looking back. Besides I'm sure it's gonna be a lot easier for us being in the same city again. Having you and Dad here will really help"_

* * *

As Stefan exited down the steps of the police station he looked around the busy streets. Who was he kidding. He didn't belong here anymore. Damon hated him. Caroline hated him. Nothing he said or did would ever change their minds. They were probably the two most stubborn people he knew. He was way out of his depth ever thinking he had a chance at winning them round. All the reasons he came back began to appear obsolete.

He didn't have a life here anymore. He didn't belong and he never would. He learnt their was no going back for him. He had to accept his previous life in Mystic Falls was over. He already lost it.

He should just cut his loses. If anything him being back was just causing everyone more pain and anguish. And he was wasting time here when he could be with people who actually wanted him around. People like his poor sick, dying mother. Maybe he should just do what everyone wanted him to do. Leave Mystic Falls for good.

Feeling down and out he made a decision. He would respect their wishes and leave town for good. Of course he would need to go to the hosiptal, talk to work, but he needed to this before he hurt them even more. He needed to let this part of his life go once and for all.

He was just tired of fighting and felt like this was the only choice he had. Luckily for him the hospital was right next door to the station. His flight didn't arrive for another couple hours. He could just go in there now and get this over with before he's in too deep to this false life he's been trying so desperately to live. Pull the band aid off. Hopefully leaving Mystic Falls this time wouldn't be as heart wrenching as leaving the first time was.

"Dr. Salvatore you're here. I thought you weren't well today?" Nora the hosiptal secretary questioned.

"Oh, yeah I umm.."

"-Well you look as white as paper"

"Can you do me a favour and speak to Dr. Fell. See if she can cover a few of my appointments for a week until they can find a replacement for me"

"Oh? You're leaving?"

"Yeah. My mom's not doing too hot. I'm gonna head back to New York to take care of her."

"Oh I'm sorry to hear that. Of course I'll take care of it. Good luck in New York. I wish your mother the best"

"Yeah, thanks. I'll see you Nora"

He turned to walk away before being interrupted by Nora again.

"Oh. Dr. Salvatore? I have those files you were asking about. For Caroline Forbes?"

"Oh great." He moved back to her desk taking the file she held out to him, as he began perusing through it.

"I had Jeremy from IT work on it this morning. Poor guy thought it would earn him a date. I told him, Jeremy you're barking up the wrong tree here mate, I mean did he seriously-"

"-Nora?.." Stefan interrupted ".. Sorry, but there's been some mistake on these files. They're all wrong"

"Wrong?"

"Yeah. Like here, Elizabeth Forbes was Caroline's mom, she doesn't have a daughter." Nora looked down to the file where Stefan was pointing noticing the mistake. It clearly listed an Elizabeth Forbes in her records as Caroline's daughter.

"Oh? I don't know how that mix up could of happened."

"You know what it doesn't matter. I'll be back in a few days to sort my appartment out for my move. I'll sort it out then"

He rubbed an exhausted hand down his face. Great. Another thing he needed to fix he thought. With that in mind he proceded to continue his journey to the chief doctor of the hospital's office to tick his work off the long list of things he needed to take care of before leaving.

His talk with his boss was actually relatively easy. He was very understanding giving the circumstances and wished him and his family well. Of course he expressed his dissapointment to be loosing a young talented doctor especially after so little time with them, but went easy on him explaning how he understood the reasons for his decision to care of his mother. He was very kind and sympathetic to Stefan's needs but that might have something to do with the fact that he looked like shit today and the guy felt sorry enough for him without yelling at him for leaving him in the lurch.

He left the hosiptal now without a job. Nothing to keep him here. His was miserable and exhausted and couldn't fight this voice telling him in the back of his head this was a massive mistake that he was making. It was over powered by his father's voice in his head telling him he was doing the right thing.

At this moment he felt just as bad if not worse about leaving Caroline behind again. He felt like he was just confirming her lowest expectations of him and he was playing right into them once again.

But who was he kidding coming back and turning up into her life after five years? She moved on of course she did. And Stefan owed it to her to let her move on. _He_ was the one to leave. He walked out on her. That was a decision _he_ had to live with for the rest of his life. That was on him not her. So he owed it to her to respect her wishes. As much as it would kill him, he had to let her go. But he couldn't do it again without at least saying good bye. So he began his journey to say a final goodbye to her.

Caroline's appartment was on the way to the airport. He could go and see her. Clear the air between them once and for all. He couldn't leave again fighting with her. He wanted to see her at least once more before he left for good. He didn't want the last image he ever had of her to be her angrily slamming a door in his face.

* * *

 _The blonde angel like beauty he noticed from the corner of his eye stumble over a tree log as she past him had definitely made one of the most memorable first impressions he's ever encountered. He reached out a gentle hand to aid her in rising from the cold forest floor where she had fallen flat on her face._

 _"Whoa. You ok?" He queried with genuine concern. That fall looked painful._

 _She jumped up like a spring without the aid of his hand, a leap in her step. With the whip of a hair flick, blonde tresses blurred back to unveil the stunning beauty of the girl in front of him. She held a beaming smile that stretched out across her dimpled cheeks. He was slightly taken aback by her piercing eyes. They were hypnotic blue like the calm of the ocean after a big storm. He doesn't think he would ever be able to forget those eyes._

 _"Hello" she squeaked. Completely unabashed after the embarassing fall she just took in front of the large crowd._

 _"Err. Hi?"_

 _"What's your name?" She immediately jumped into an inquisition._

 _"Errr.. Stefan"_

 _"Ughhh. I hate the name Steven"_

 _"Actually it's Stefan"_

 _"But it's okay. I mean you're hot" she persited. Maybe she didn't hear him when he corrected her on his name, or maybe she was too far past drunk to care._

 _"What starsign are you?" She excitedly questioned practically jumping on the spot. Slightly overwhelmed Stefan took a step back._

 _"Ummm?" But she took two steps forward chasing him down._

 _"I bet you're a Gemini right?"_

 _"Sure" Stefan said uneasily. He had no clue what this drunk girl in front of him was babbling on about. He figured agreeing with anything she said was the way to go, and judging by how animated she got by his answer he assumes he guessed_ right _?_

 _"Yeessss!" She pumped her fist in the air in celebration._

 _"..I knew it! I always knew I would end up with a Gemini. I mean i'm a libra and I totally guessed Gemini. Either that or Scorpio. That's what i'm destined for acording to Bonnie's books and all but, I don't know if I believe all that. I mean it's a bit too voodoo for me you know. Destined lovers and all that. I think if it's meant to be you got to make it happen you know. If you want something done right you have to do it yourself. I don't have time for the universe to be getting it's act together. I take charge of my own destiny"_

 _He didn't know if she was done with her ramblings, if she finally stopped to take a breath or if her drunk clouded mind just forgot what she was prattling on about at a mile a minute._

 _She just stared at him for a few moments with those enchanting eyes as_ _he continued to stare wide eyed back at her. She stretched a dazzling smile and he forgot to breathe. To be honest this strange girl in front of him was quite intimidating, right from the moment she sprung up from the floor._

 _"-Anyway-"_

 _"-Why don't we find your friends to take you home" he interrupted before she started another monologue that went on for days._

 _Unbeknown to him the reasons why, but he felt this strange desperate need to protect the fragile drunk stranger as she swayed unstable like on her feet in front of him._

 _"You can be my friend, that way you can to take me home" she seductively flirted._

 _"Right" he had to get this poor girl home before someone took advantage of her vunerable state._

 _"Sooooo?"_

 _"What?" He asked genuienly confused before instantly regretting it. Of course anything she was about to say wasn't going to make sense._

 _"Are we friends?"_

 _"We can be whatever you want ok?" he spoke slowly and calmly, nodding as if to a child, as he raised an arm to slowly guide her away from the fire she was leaning dangerously close towards._ _He figured it was best to pacify the creature in front of him rather than anger it. If she was this far out of control as a happy drunk he didn't want to see her mad._

 _"Then you're my friend that I get to keep. Yay! I always wanted to marry my best friend" she jumped on him, embracing him in a wild hug and his senses where suddenly overwhelmed by a vanilla scent mixed with dirt and ash that probably still hung to her from when she fell earlier._

 _Her words finally registered to his ears and he seperated himself from her. Pinning her arms to the side of her body to prevent any more spontaneous hugging._

 _"Marry?!"_

 _"Yeah. Don't worry. I'll handle all the wedding details... I'm an excellent party planner" she whispered that last part as if it where some top secret as she looked around suspisciously for no one else to hear._

 _"Our wedding?" His eyebrows stretched high upward to his hairline._

 _"Yeah. In June. Duh!"_

 _"Oook." He was starting to get a little freaked out by this girl who is more likely than not some weird stalker._

 _"And our kids are gonna be sooo adorable" she gushed completely oblivious to the inappropriateness of this whole senario._

 _"Kids?!" Ok. This girl was definitely fucking crazy._

 _"Yeah. Little Stevie jr. What do you think?"_

 _"Errrr?"_

 _"You know what you're right it doesn't really have a ring to it. How about you get to name the boy, I'll name the girl. Although I don't know if I trust you enough to let you name the boy either"._ _She's trusting enough to marry and have kids with a complete stranger, but not trusting enough to let him name them? Who was this woman?_

 _"You don't trust me to name our imaginary kids?" He asked slighlty amused by the outrageousness of the drunk blonde in front of him. If this wasn't so frightening it would be quite laughable._

 _"Not really. I mean I don't really like the name Steven all that much. Although, that's probably more to do with the fact that my dad left me and my mum for a guy called Steven so you know" she shrugged her shoulders at that in a 'what can you do' tone._

 _"Ok. First it's Stefan. Not Steven. And second I didn't name me"_

 _"Hey. I didn't say I wasn't open to suggestions. What kinda names do you like?" She asked beguilingly._

 _"I don't know.. I always kinda liked the name Jacob maybe?" He had no idea why he was playing along with this girl's fantasy, but she was clearly wasted. It was amusing to him hearing the crazy plans she was making in her drunk state._

 _"Jacob? Nooo I was thinking something more like Jack or Daniel"_

 _"Jack Daniels?" He chuckled at that._

 _"Ok then."_

 _"What about girls names. Any surr- suggesstions?" She strugglingly slurred._

Lexie maybe _? He thought before shaking his head. Why was he even thinking about this? For one, he was't planning on having any babies anytime soon and two, they sure as hell wouldn't be with the crazy blonde standing in front of him._

 _"I was thinking Vodka!"_

 _"Vodka? That Russian?" He joked. Before he could even blink she had a bottle of Vodka in her hand from nowhere and was downing it's contents._

 _"Whooaaa. You want to maybe ease up a bit there?"_

 _"Nope" she gave him a doepy grin which was actually pretty cute, he couldn't help but smile at her._

 _"Right, well now that we've got the kids sorted, you gonna tell me_ your _name?"_

 _"Me? I'm Care-la-la-line" she slurred in a slight sing-song voice._

 _"Caroline?"_

 _"That's it!" She screeched entirely too excitable._

 _"Caroline! There you are. I've been looking all over for you" he recognised the brunette that had just appeared from his history class. Bonnie Bennet. She was Elena's best friend._

 _"I'm sorry about her. She had way too much to drink" Bonnie apologized to Stefan on her behalf._

 _"Bonnie Bennet. I would never" Caroline feigned shock as if what she suggested was completely outrageous._

 _"Don't worry about it. Do you need any help-" he questioned with a pointed finger as Bonnie hooked an arm round the blonde's weight supporting her weight to keep her upright._

 _"- It's fine. I'll take her home. Or at least sober her up before her mom catches her. Thanks Stefan"_

 _"Oh. Don't mention it" feeling a bit sad his highly unusual and unpredictable conversation with the blonde was now ending._

 _"Oh if you're still looking for Elena, I think she went down to the falls"_

 _"Ok, thanks"_

 _"Bye hubby. Don't forget to pick up Vodka and Jack Daniels" she pointed her finger and scrunched her eyebrows together in a demanding way. He thinks it was suppose to be intimidating but in reality it was just adorable. She was kinda cute when she pulled that face with her lips bunched together and eyes narrowed in an inquisitive nature. He couldn't help but smirk at her._

 _"I won't"_

 _Bonnie waved goodbye as she walked away with a drunk Caroline hanging like a rag doll off the side of her body. He looked at their dissipating figures, small smile still extended on his lips. It wasn't like she would remember this conversation later (he didn't think she would remember anything come morning). But he most definitely would never forget her_. Caroline. _She was one unhinged girl._

* * *

Taking a deep breath he knocked on the door for exactly three thuds against the wood and waited. Memories realed in his mind as each time this door opened it unveiled a person he was more shocked to see then the last. He hopes Klaus doesn't answer the door. Unlikely for it to be Damon. And it better not be any other surprise ghosts from his past. If Tyler shows up he might actually shoot himself.

"Just a minute" he heard Caroline's yell muffled from behind the door. He sighed a breathe of relief at hearing her voice. Although it was slightly disheartened by the sinking of his heart at what he was about to do. This was what she wanted though, and he had to respect her choice.

The Door suddenly crept ever so slowly open. Brows creased together as he looked directly ahead to an empty spaced apartment living room. He was just about to call out for Caroline when he heard the tell-tale clearing of a small voice. Heavily his head tilted downwards coming face to face with a blonde little girl. Her brows were adorably scrunched together in an inquistive yet very familiar nature. His mouth hung opened when he heard the patter of footsteeps and call from Caroline inside the appartment.

"Elizabeth Forbes. How many times have I told you not to answer the door on your own"

By the time she appeared in front of his eyes he was as pale as a ghost. Indiscrepancies throughout the past couple of days started to fill the puzzle pieces in his head. His eyes widened as the epiphany struck.

Caroline was a mom.

* * *

 **A/N : Dun, dun duhhh! 😱 I know a lot if you guessed this would happen. I've been dropping hints at it throughout the story, and blantantly spelt it out this chapter but congrats to those who guessed it 👏👏👏** **.**

 **Shout out to Crisibabe who guessed all the way in chapter 2, As well as grace in ch 4 and infinity who was on the right track back in ch 6. I'm sure you all figured it out as well or you just thought i made a few mistakes in my writing and were to kind to point it out. LOL. I'd love to know when you all started getting suspiscious so so let me know in the reviews 😆. (Was anyone still shocked?)**

 **Next question. Who's the daddy? Stay tunned and let me know what you think?**


	10. Ch 10: Who's The Daddy? I

**A/N: I'M ALIVE ! Just kidding. I know it's been ages and I'm really really sorry about the ridiculous wait. Everythings just been so hectic lately but I won't bore you with the details cause you probably don't care. Anyway i made this chapter a little longer to make up for me being annoying. A massive thank you to jads100 from tumblr for helping with this one. It was a hard chapter to write so please review and let me know what you think or if you have any questions. I promise the next chapter won't be as long a wait. In fact I've got the majority of it already written so keep an eye out 😋. Enjoy?💜**

 ***In case anyone was wondering I changed the first flashback on this chapter and moved the old one into the next chapter.**

* * *

It was as if the moment warped in speed. He remained completely frozen in movement, as time stood still. The shocking revelation fuzzing his mind. It began to be too overwhelming. Too flabbergasting. He felt his mind sure to explode. And the immediate reaction to this shocking event was disbelief. So his mind focused on the minute details of everyday existence because it didn't want to digest the news that was standing right in front of him.

He could hear the distant car noises from the open window to the street below. The noisy sounds of a vaccum he assumed a neighbour to be doing some cleaning with. He could hear the noise of the television being emitted as an echo from her apartment. The buzzing of a bee hovering somewhere along this corridor.

He senses then shifted to smell. He could smell the clear disinfectant of hospital that still clung to his clothes. The smell of clean cut grass wafting through that open window. The smell of baked goods he was unclear to the location where they emitted from but were watering his taste buds.

Finally his senses moved to sight and that was something he could no longer ignore. He couldn't zone in on anything else. His mind had to adjusted to the shocking image of the little girl in front of him.

She was a complete miniature version of Caroline. Her hair was the same shade of golden blonde but rather than the curls her mom held, it was more straight. Her eyes were a familiar shade of blue that he could never forget the look of. She had on a pretty little purple and blue party dress, and wore a sparkly little headband. Stefan guessed her to be around the age of 3 maybe 4? He couldn't really be sure. Either way she looked completely adorable he remembered thinking as his heart pounded painfully hard within in his chest.

His wide eyes finally shifted their focus gaze upwards towards her mother who had just approached the door. Eyes remained wide as saucers and mouth hung open but no words escaped. To say he was stumped for words was a complete understatement. He felt like a train had hit him. Like the earthquake just trembled through this very hallway. Like he had been completely shaken to his core. No coherent thoughts could run through his mind, let alone piece together a sentence he could speak. He was completely floored. His mind exploding with this newsflash of information.

"Hey" she cooed in a completely soothing apprehensive tone.

Still no words escaped him. He stood frozen in place. Completely perplexed. How could he of missed this?

Stefan looked down at the little girl again and swallowed hard.

"Sweetie, do you want to get your shoes? We have to leave really soon"

Without any pause the little girl beamed up at her mother and skipped off out of view into the apartment behind the door.

"You okay?" She quietly questioned. He saw her swallow as her eyes darted around avoiding his.

He thinks he muffled a small barely audible sound but has no idea what he was trying to say. Coming out as more a monosyllable whine than anything else.

She closed her eyes taking a deep breathe before finally meeting his unnerving gaze. They stared like that for a few moments. Like there was some kind of conversation she was having with him in her eyes, he just didn't have a clue what it was. Yet another thing his leaving screwed up between them. The days of their conversations with just looks were now over. Then again he didn't really understand her when she actually spoke words to him these days either.

Her eyelids fluttered like butterflies as she blinked heavily, her tongue tipping out to moisten her lower lip.

"Umm?-"

"-Listen... I heard about your mom. Damon told me.."

Words were still stuck in the back of his throat. He took a deep breathe trying to focus on the issue at hand.

"Right"

"How's she doing?" Caroline gently asked in concern.

He couldn't even think clearly right now. Dealing with his mom and all this. It was too much. All he could manage was a grim smile and light shake of the head.

"I'm sorry". She apprehensively cooed.

That soothing voice was almost enough. Enough to ease the pain. Calm this gut wrenching feeling in the pit of his stomach. Enough to almost let him forget. Forget the imminent demise of his mother. Forget the fact that his brother and best friend hated and wanted nothing to do with him. Forget the shocking revelations that his mind was electrified to moments ago by the appearance of mini-Caroline.

"It's Okay" he muttered. It wasn't. He took a deep sigh before noticing the concern edged on her face.

"You okay?" She delicately whispered and it took him by surprise. He didn't expect her to care, and if anything he's even more shocked she hasn't attempted shutting the door on his face yet.

"Honestly? No" she forced an understanding smile lightly nodding her head.

"I get it. Trust me. Loosing a mom...It sucks."

The pain was evident on her face. You could see the deep effect it still had on her. Loosing her mother. He knew she was trying. Trying to be comforting, but just seeing that pain in her eyes was doing the exact opposite. It was crushing him.

He looked to the floor in guilt and fear. Guilt for not being there for her when she lost her mom and fear for that pain he saw on her face soon to be replicated on his own. Although saying that he already felt enough pain. He didn't think he could get worse than this. Seeing her in grief was causing him the pain of a thousand stabs to the chest. He heard her take a large deep breath but refused to look up from the spot his eyes zeroed in on on the floor.

"I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy. Who happens to be you but?" She remarked causing his eye line to shift swiftly to meet her face.

"Yeah. Thanks" he mumbled disheartened, deeply hurt. She didn't realise how cutting her words were in the moment as the punch to the gut that they were.

"Sorry..." she rubbed her palm across her forehead.

"... I'm trying here. OK." She said honestly. He nodded slightly. He got it. She was trying to be civil. Trying to go gentle on him after news of his mom hit her. But that didn't mean she forgave him. It didn't mean she wasn't still mad. It didn't mean she didn't hate him anymore.

His jaw clenched, eyes darting around refusing to meet her gaze.

"I know"

"-Mommy, I can't find my shoes"

"I'll be there in a minute honey" Caroline called over her shoulder. His eyesight drifted back into the apartment at the sound of the disturbance as if he would be able to sneak a peak at the little girl once more.

He felt compelled to know more about her. And why Caroline never mentioned having a daughter. Then again why would she? It's not like they have spoken to each other in the past five years. But still.

He's surprised it hadn't come up at all in the past couple of days. But then, they hadn't exactly had all that much of a friendly chat since he's been back. They barely talk and when they do, it mostly consists of her just yelling at him.

He still thinks she should of mentioned she had a daughter. What else did she conveniently not tell him about. A boyfriend? A husband? He felt sick to his stomach at the thought.

She was still a Forbes. Her medical records didn't say anything about a husband. But at the same time, they did say she had a daughter and he went on blissfully unaware. Another guy could be staring him in the face and he wouldn't have a clue. The girl had to have a father for Christ's sake.

And that thought resulted in the dreaded question to pop into his head. Who was the father?

He assumes Klaus. That's the way things were looking. She was with him when he left five years ago, and based on yesterdays run in, he still appears to stick around. All signs were pointing directly towards him.

Desperate for any other possibilities other than Caroline being permanently attached to the devil he began to ponder other possibilities. Damon? No chance. Someone else? Possible. Him? Laughable. That last thought was an old desperate dream he once held of one day starting a family with Caroline. One where they could have a child of their own. But that was just a dream. She had her family now and he was most definitely not part of it and never would be again.

* * *

 _"I'm never gonna have one. I'm gonna be an old lonely woman forever.." she sounded desolate as she slumped further into the couch carrying on her mini rant that he was struggling to keep up with. Had something to do with his uncle Zach and aunt Gail who had just left with their 3 year old daughter Sarah._

 _It was a family barbecue, which of course Stefan invited Caroline to as he considered her family and he rarely goes anywhere without her. That and they're at the point now that no-one even questions her being there. There are even Salvatore family events Caroline goes to without him being there._

 _This one he did attend though and it was quite a pleasant evening. A small event of just them, Damon and their mom. Even his dad couldn't make it as he had 'business matters' to attend. It had been an enjoyable evening and Caroline had taken quite a shinning to little Sarah._

 _Well more like Sarah took a liking to her. She would barely leave her alone for a minute all night following wherever she went. Apparently the experience had a profound effect on Caroline though and she now had a bad case of baby fever._

 _".. maybe I should look into adopting cats. I can be a crazy cat lady instead" he caught as the tail end of Caroline's rambling monologue._

 _"OK. I think you've had enough drink for now" he fought the smile to stay down as he reached a lazy arm forward in the direction of the bottle of beer in her hand. She slumped further into the couch at of his reach clearly unamused._

 _"I'm serious" He sighed deeply at the somber look on her face._

 _"You're not gonna be alone. You never have trouble with guys falling for you" Stefan almost sounded a bit bitter about that as he mumbled into his beer. Was it bitter or jealousy? He didn't really know at this point._

 _"Oh yeah my track record with guys is flawless" Caroline sarcastically mumbled before sipping a bit of her own beer._

 _"Well you wouldn't even need a guy. I'm pretty sure you could do the whole parenting thing all on your own"_

 _"I don't want that. I mean that's great for some people, but I would actually like my kids to have a father. You know? I want the whole picture. The house, the husband. A happy family.." she smiled dreamily._

 _".. I mean eventually. Like way way in the future. Not right now" she clarified. Stefan took a deep breathe._

 _"Well I'm sure you'll get that"_

 _"What if I don't though? I need to be prepared to be alone. I've never really been alone before you know. I went from Matt, to Tyler To Klaus... I've never really just been me. I don't know if I'm strong enough for that"_

 _"And you call me a man whore" Damon mocked mumbling into his drink before earning another evil glare from Stefan for him butting into their conversation. Why was he even here again?_

 _"I'm kinda scared to be alone" She continued on ignoring Damon's presence. Her tired state probably making her too exhausted to fight with him as she reclined further into the pillow of the couch. And her slightly drunk state pressing her to open up so easily to him right now, even with Damon in the room._

 _"You'll never be alone. You have me" he softly nudged her._

 _"But I can't marry you" she stated down and out._

 _She suddenly jumped up, her posture straightening as she excitedly smiled while clapping her hands together in her adorable way._

 _"Ooo. I can marry you" she excitedly cheered her drunk state becoming even more obvious in her animated movements. He began to choke on his drink and saw Damon smirk from the corner of his eye._

 _"What?"_

 _"I don't mean like marry, marry. I mean we can be eachothers back-up. Like in friends"_

 _"soooo?" He slightly questioned having no clue what she was going on about right now. She watches that TV show way too much._

 _"So if neither of us are married by the time we're like 40 and look like we're gonna be alone forever we get married" she clarified. He thinks it is his own drunk clouded mind that made the idea seem like the greatest thing she's ever come up. It was an otherwise depressing and, oddly enough for Caroline, pessimistic outlook on life. It felt like that would be her last lifeline, but one that would potentially be the greatest outcome for him._

 _"OK" he nodded his heart pounding faster in his chest._

 _"OK. So when we hit 40 and we're still not married, you'll marry me?"_

 _"Yeah" Stefan accepted a little to eagerly without pause. Damon snickered from his seat on the couch across from them watching the scene between them unfold. Caroline rolled her eyes at him while Stefan gave him a dirty look with narrowed eyes._

 _"So do we have a deal?" Stefan continued determined to ignore Damon._

 _"Deal" she smiled stretching out her delicate hand. They shook on it with a firm handshake. Caroline gripped his hand as hard as she could like always, clamping down on his hand like a vice but Stefan, like always, just smirked like it had no affect on his muscular hands. Of course once it was over he would always need to shake it out. She was a lot stronger than she looked. The whole routine was like their own little secret handshake._

 _"So how many kids do you want?" Stefan questioned while simultaneously taking a sip of his beer._

 _"Oh as many as I can get!" Caroline laughed excitedly, and it made the butterflies flutter in the pit of his stomach just hearing that laugh._

 _"What should we call them? Like what names do you like for a girl" She excitedly questioned practically jumping in her seat at the fantasy they were conjuring._

 _He laughed in his head Vodka, he thought remembering their first meeting before thinking better of that suggestion. Caroline still didn't remember conversations from that night and it was best for his mind not to go there again._

 _"Lexi?" He suggested instead._

 _"Our nanny?" Damon asked bewildered from his seat on the couch opposite them._

 _"Hold on. You guys had a nanny"_

 _"Of course we did"_

 _"Ugh. You're family's so pretentious."_

 _"Just cause you're family can't afford life's luxuries Caroline" Damon defended in a goading tone._

 _"I would hardly consider-"_

 _"-And besides. That particular nanny was Stefan's best friend" Damon interrupted turning a deaf ear to whatever she was previously trying to say._

 _"You're nanny was your best friend?" She questioned slightly amused as Stefan stretched a lazy smile._

 _"Scratch that. She was his only friend" Damon snidely remarked, before laughing to himself in his slightly tipsy state finding the situation highly amusing._

 _"His only friends were paid to be there by mom and dad... That's until you Blondie"_

 _He stated pointing a finger in her direction with his hand wrapped around his bottle off beer. Her head bowed back clearly in disbelief, and Stefan instantly knew what she was thinking._

 _She of course knew Stefan was kind of a loner. And his only real close friend was her but she probably didn't quite grasp the full concept of how difficult it was for him to let people in. Didn't realise how high he leaves his walls up to everyone else when she so easily just slid right in to make herself home._

 _When she finally looked to him he poised a guilty look. Lips scrunched up in embarrassment, hand raking through his hair scratching the top of his head as he looked to the floor._

 _"Hey. At least Stefan has standards to who he surrounds himself with. I saw little miss wonky eye with bad attitude leaving you're room this morning." she took a dig at Damon in Stefan's defence._

 _Damon surrendered his hands in defence._

 _"Hey they can't all be Victoria secret models. And that temper made her a fireball in bed..." he wiggled his eyebrows at that to which Caroline groaned_

 _"...Although if she comes around again give her the usual spiel"_

 _"Army or navy?" Stefan questioned to which lie he need to tell to get Damon out of the predicament with his latest conquest._

 _"You're disgusting" Caroline scoffed gulping down a sip of her beer._

 _"Let's go with a long trip on the seven seas. I can't guarantee this one won't follow me into a war zone" Damon continued completely unaffected by Caroline's opinion on the matter._

 _Of course his latest split from Elena meant he was getting worse with his one night stands and purposefully trying to rub Elena's nose in it to show her what she's missing. One way to do that was making sure her best friend knew all about his latest hook-ups and just waiting for Caroline to tell her about it._

 _Caroline just rolled her eyes at him before turning to face Stefan._

 _"Whatever happened to her?" She directed her question to Stefan who opened his mouth to respond before Damon pipped in again._

 _"She went home to break up with her boyfriend"_

 _"Not_ her. _Lexi."_

 _"I don't know. Probably another one of dads affairs turned sour" Stefan shrugged._

 _"Actually as much as I should let the bastard take the fall. That ones on me." Damon announced with his signature smirk and wiggle of the eyebrows._

 _"Uggh"_

 _"Gross"_

 _"To one hell of a memorable night" Damon toasted raising his bottle in the air. Stefan swung a sip of his own beer, all the while trying to get that disturbing image out of his mind._

 _"You know I actually kind of like the name Lexie" Caroline pondered more so to herself then anyone else. Stefan smiled while gazing at her._

 _"Yeah?" It seemed that woke her from her drunken haze as she whipped her head to face him so fast he was surprised she didn't get whiplash._

 _"Yeah" they were lost in each others eyes for a moment. The rest of the world fizzled out of existence and it was just them. The each stretched small content smiles and Stefan's eyes clouded in a dream like state. The image of them as a family pulled on his heart strings. Pulled him into the clouds of a heaven like state._

 _"You do realise if this was to actually happen you two would need to have sex right" Damon annoying voice chimed in sending him crashing back down to reality and purposefully making things awkward._

 _Stefan knew this wasn't serious talk. He knew they were just messing about. Getting drunk. Talking nonsense no one would remember come morning. Just having fun. Then Damon had to be Damon and spoil the mood like he always did._

 _Stefan clenched his jaw narrowing his eyes to brother before turning to Caroline. Her cheeks were blushed red as eyes remained wide. For some reason he kept his eyes on her and when she finally looked to meet his eyes all he could hear the overbearing thumping of his heart only drowned out by the snickering across the room as Damon began laughing into his beer._

 _"And on that note" Caroline announced as she simultaneously stood from her seated position next to him on the couch and bent at the hip to pick up the empty beer bottles that clouded the floor. Stefan's gaze subconsciously pondered on her perky ass bent over. After a few seconds he realised what he was doing and wanted to turn away. Respect his best friend and her body._

 _He wanted to do that, but that doesn't mean he could. His body refused to respond to his minds thoughts and instead his gaze remained frozen in their lustful peering on her peachy bottom._

 _Judging by the clinking sounds of glass he assumes she knocked over some of their beer bottles on the floor trying to pick them up but couldn't be sure as his eye line refused to waver from it's current position no matter what the disturbance._

 _He wanted more than anything for his mind not to flash multiple visionary images of scenarios of her in that position. God he should really stop staring. Instead of doing just that he stretched his neck tilting his head slightly to the side as he leaned back comfortably against the couch earning himself a better view._

 _He assumed her drunken state was making it difficult for her to pick up the bottles scattered across the floor. Normally he would move to help. Be a gentleman, but he was afraid nothing could move him from this current position he was getting an eye full from._

 _Finally she appeared to gather all the bottles, juggling them on her nimble fingers as she stood to take her leave to the kitchen. He the kept his gaze trained on her as she exited the room, eyesight never wavering from her behind. That was until Damon's unamused ugly mug crossed his view._

 _Damn it. He forgot he was here._

 _Stefan's eyes blinked as he instantly looked down guiltily, ashamed of having been caught gawking over Caroline._

 _"Can you please just make a move already instead of lusting after her and drooling all over the couch"_

 _"I'm not lusting after her" He vigorously denied in a hushed tone, lying through his teeth._

 _"Yeah sure you weren't" Damon rolled his eyes as Stefan slowly reached behind him, grabbing hold of one of the couch pillows and slyly manoeuvring it onto his lap in an attempt to hide his state of arousal._

 _"You know you should just make a move already. Get busy on making those hypothetical babies you were planning a minute ago." Damon declared dropping his empty bottle onto the just cleared by floor with a plump, all the while stretching his legs out onto the coffee table and crossing his arms to rest behind his head._

 _Stefan bit his cheeks shaking his head from side to side._

 _"She has a boyfriend..." he stated in an tired voice._

 _"..And it not like that between us." He mumbled looking to the floor before taking a long swift from his beer._

 _"It so is and I'd hardly call Klaus a boyfriend. He's a waste of time is what he is" Stefan peeked a look at the kitchen door to make sure Caroline hadn't reappeared yet._

 _"Can you just give it a rest" Stefan begged. Damon detached himself from his comfy teasing position to lean forward. His arms resting on his knees, expression a serious face._

 _"If you don't get your act together brother, it's gonna be her and him with the brood of kids and you just the creepy dude that hangs out with mom" Stefan gulped down the final contents of the bottle at the thought._

* * *

"Stefan?" Caroline looks to him in deep concern. She must of been calling his name for a while now as he lost himself in his thoughts.

"Sorry" he apologised.

"No, it's fine... You sure you're okay?"

He bit the inside of his cheeks slowly nodding, eyes distant and far away.

"Good.." she softly muttered.

"... Anyway. I better go, so... Give your mom my best okay?""

"Yeah..." she gave a small smile making motion to shut the front door, before he remembered the dreaded reason he was here. "... Caroline?"

"Mm mm" she gave him her full attention, pulling the door back open.

He felt all words stuck in the back of his throat. The words lodged deep down he couldn't say them. Cause he didn't want to. He didn't want to say goodbye. He didn't want to leave her again.

But he's already screwed up his shot with her. There was no going back now. He already lost her. He lost her five years ago and hasn't let it go since. He needed to let it go and let her be happy. She had a family now. He wasn't going to come in the middle of that. She was probably happier without him in her life. He should just say goodbye like he came here to do.

"Look. I really need to talk to you. Do you think I could-" his sentence drifted off as he pointed over her shoulder requesting entry into her home, where they could perhaps talk more privately.

She looked to be having an internal debate within her head as her head tilted to the right and she bit her bottom lip. Clearly she didn't want to let him in.

"Please" he begged. Eyes seeping with desperation. She must of felt sorry for him as he saw her swallow and begrudgingly nod opening the door wider granting him entry.

He breathed a sigh of relief as she granted him aces to her home. A part of him truly thought she would slam the door on his face again.

"Sorry about the mess.." she apologised over her shoulder before picking up what appeared to be dolls and teddy bears scattered across the floor.

".. We've been playing pretend tea party all day".

He looked around at the evidence of Caroline's idea of mess. If you could call it that. Mess wasn't exactly how he'd categorise it. Then again it was Caroline. Of course she saw it as a mess. It's strange thinking of her as a mom now. How would she cope with all that mess?

Then again looking around the apartment it looked like she was coping just fine. Apart from the obvious evidence of their game earlier the place was immaculate. Cleaner than his own place in fact. Of course it was just him. No one else to clean up after. Not that his apartment was unclean. In fact apart from a few scattered empty beer bottles on his kitchen counter as evidence of last nights spiralling session and an unmade bed it was all in all pretty tidy. He probably had a few of his shoes lying across the living room floor, She use to hate how he did that in her dorm room in college, but his apartment was relatively well kept. But it was just that. An empty, lonely, clean apartment.

This was a home.

His eyes scanned the apartment and noticed all the signs of being such a family home. The smell he sensed earlier in the hallway was getting stronger and he noticed the tray of baked goods cooling off on the kitchen work top very Martha Stewart like.

The children's drawing of pictures hanging off the fridge. The princess pop up tent in the corner of the room. The framed pictures of Caroline and her daughter, them with Bonnie and Elena and even with Damon, all displayed scattered across the surfaces of the apartment.

He wondered how he had missed it all. The previous day he had been in this very same apartment and hadn't noticed any of it. Maybe he was too consumed by the image of an unconscious Caroline on the kitchen floor when she collapsed, that he didn't have time to notice the surroundings of her apartment. He could barely even think when he saw her on that floor. He could barely think now.

"So. Did you want something or?" She let the question drift off as she shoved the dolls she held in her hands into a box shaped like a princess castle filled with toys. It was pink and purple and glittery. There were tiny hands prints all over it, painted in different colours and it had the name LIZZIE in glittery purple print across the front. She shoved the last teddy bear she held in her hands on top of the pile and low and behold, on top of her throne, there sat Ms. Cuddles.

* * *

 _"What are you doing here out in the woods?"_

 _Stefan interrogated resulting in Caroline springing back startled._

 _"You're not burying any dead bodies out here, are you?" He asked slightly nervous, his eyes straying to the shovel in her hand._

 _"I will be if you don't get outta here and leave me alone" she declared sulkily before turning and forcefully thrusting the implement into the dirt._

 _The entire scene would be quite frightening, had it not been those long boots and oversized jacket that made her look so innocent and cutesie that nothing about her was even remotely intimidating right now._

 _"Oooh. Somebodies angry" he teased, highly amused at her angry demeanor._

 _"I'm not angry" she declared shovelling another heap of dirt in frustration. His eyes squinted at her, slight smirk on the corner of his mouth._

 _"You definitely sound angry" he goaded._

 _"You know what. You're right I am. And the last thing I need is you sitting there mocking me" she stated in a hostile tone, refusing to look up and ploughing on with her task. He let her get her frustration out on a few trenches of dirt before speaking again._

 _"So, what is it exactly that you're doing?"_

 _"What does it look like. I'm looking for something"_

 _"Right"_

 _"Yeah, but I forgot where I buried the stupid thing" she released a frustrated growl as she aggressively tossed the shovel to the ground. With a deep sigh he took a few steps forward, bending down to pick up the implement. Shoving the tip into the dirt hole, she was previously working on, he stamped his foot on the flat end._

 _"You gonna tell me what we're looking for?" He questioned as he gouged out some more earth onto the pile on the surface next to the hole they were now collectively working on._

 _"Ms. Cuddles" he abruptly opened his palms dropping the shovel to the forest ground with a thud._

 _"Oh my god. There's actually a body?!" he postulated completely horrified._

 _"No you idiot. It's a bear"_

 _"A bear?!"_

 _"Yeah"_

 _"How the hell did you bury a bear?"_

 _"Uhhh I used a shovel" she stated as if it was obvious._

 _"How big was this bear? Was it a baby bear?" He quietly questioned, truly scared of any answer to that question he never thought he'd ask. Her eyes squinted and mouth scrunched up in the top corner as she gave him a genuinely confused look as if he was the crazy one._

 _Finally, her eyes widened and her mouth gaped, her thoughts having caught with his thoughts._

 _"Oh. Noooo. Not a real bear, a teddy bear..." relief suddenly filled him as he finally understood their miscommunication._

 _"...Why would I bury a bear?"_

 _"Why would you bury a teddy bear?"_

 _"It's a long story" she huffed out bending down to pick up the shovel in a determined manner._

 _"You're not having a psychotic break, are you?" Stefan queried. She whipped around to face him at that comment._

 _"Look if you think I'm insane I get it. I probably am, but nobody is forcing you to be here." She triumphantly shrugged to him before turning to complete the task at hand._

 _Evidently she expected him to turn away leave her to do her thing on her own. Anyone in their right mind would of just left in that moment. But Stefan would hardly classify himself in his right mind. Instead he took a few steps forward reaching his arm around her in order to pry the handle of the shovel from her small delicate hands._

 _"Here. I got it" Her body slightly jumped back in shock of his presence. She had clearly assumed he would have left by now. In a daze, she took a step back, letting him take control. It took her a couple of seconds to wake from her stupor._

 _"I can do it myself you know"_

 _"Well you know we'd be here all day if I let you do it"_

 _"Hey. So I could bury a full sized bear a minute ago and now I can't manage to dig up a little teddy bear? Where's the logic in that?"_

 _"Do you want my help or not?"_

 _She made a zipping motion across her lips indicating she wouldn't speak another word. He continued digging the hole in silence. She hovered behind him. Probably inspecting his work and judging him for doing it wrong, he pondered. After a while, he was sweating so he straightened up and eyed Caroline._

 _"So why are we looking for a teddy bear?" He asked._

 _"When Bonnie and I were little, we used to fight over this teddy bear. We found it in like first grade and she always says that it was hers…" she paused, meeting his eyes._

 _"... but I found it first" she stated that last comment in a matter of fact defensive tone, grabbing the shovel from him. Clearly it had been questioned in the past. She returned to digging the hole as she continued on her tale._

 _".. Anyway, we agreed to share her. You know I got her on weekends, Bonnie on weekdays. And that worked for us. But then one day, we got into this huge fight and so to get back at her I sort of bearnapped Ms. Cuddles. But then I didn't want my mom to come home and find so I sort of buried her in the woods somewhere"_

 _He gave her a disbelieving scoff, as she looked up guilty._

 _"I even left some M &M's to mark the spot where I left her, but something must of eaten them." She confessed._

 _"Well I'm sure bonnie is over it by now."_

 _"Oh no she isn't. She talks about that bear every five minutes. You know how guilty I felt. 12 years. 12 years I've been lying to her that I didn't know where Ms. Cuddles was"_

 _"You never told her you took the bear?"_

 _"No. It was my bear. I didn't want to share. But I didn't want her to ever find it so I sort of left it out here." He was fighting down the smile at the ridiculous story, but Caroline looked less than amused. In fact, he's never seen her look so serious about anything._

 _"And why is it you're deciding to come clean now?"_

 _"Because. It's Bonnie's birthday "she stated as though it was obvious._

 _"So you're telling me, in 12 years Bonnie's never had a birthday? " Stefan teased still not really understanding the crazy blonde in front of him._

 _"Well I didn't know what to get her this year and then she mentioned about Ms. Cuddles last week and it came to me. "_

 _"So you're ending the 12 year war for Ms. Cuddles as Bonnie's birthday gift?"_

 _"Yep. Although I might leave out the part about me stealing her and say I just found it.." made sense he guessed._

 _"...So are you gonna stand there and watch or are you gonna help?"_

 _"Nah. Not big on digging. Callouses!"_

 _"You were willing to help a minute ago"_

 _"Oh. I just wanted to know the story. And now I do I'm just gonna go tell Bonnie what happened to Ms. Cuddles 12 years ago." He pretended to walk away, but had no actual intention of doing so. As she stood stumped for words, mouth agape._

 _"I'm kidding. Here give me the shovel"_

 _"Such a gentleman" she teasingly gushed. At least he lightened her mood somewhat. In fact, he even got a glimpse of that infectious smile of hers._

 _About two hours later, they were still in the same spot of the woods with about a hundred shallow holes dug up around them, the sun setting and still no bear in sight._

 _"This is stupid. We're never gonna find it." Caroline tiredly declared watching from behind as Stefan forcibly put shovel to dirt. She continued in a desolate whisper_

 _"Ms. Cuddles is probably gone forever... buried for all eternity. Lost soul to the earth. At one with nature" she dramatically despaired. "_

 _...Do you think bears can decompose?" That did, it._

 _He abruptly stopped his pointless digging, turning to face her eyebrows pinched._

 _"Caroline if you're not serious about this whole thing, I think you should tell me. Because it seems like I'm just wasting my time."_

 _"No. I am serious..." He gave her questioning eyes, eyebrows raised as she stomped her foot like a spoilt child._

 _"... I am. It's just... I've been planning this party for like ever and I finally figure out the perfect present to get Bonnie and now I'm missing it cos I can't find the stupid thing. And everyone's there having fun and now you're here making me feel guilty for suckering you into helping me and I'm worried we're never gonna find the bear, so I'm kinda freaking out ok."_

 _Stefan struggled to hide his amusement at neurotic Caroline in a meltdown over nothing. Struggling to hold back the smirk, he put his hand over his mouth hoping to cover his amusement, but it didnt go unnoticed._

 _"And now you're laughing at me."_

 _"No, no. I'm not laughing. None of this is funny trust me." He met her eyes in all seriousness, before an unwanted chuckle burst from him and he doubled over in laughter._

 _How did he end up spending the entire day looking for a teddy bear in the woods? It was ridiculous. The only thing you could do was laugh about it. Caroline however appeared highly unamused. Clearly she didn't see the funny side._

 _"You're a jerk." He pulled himself together enough to respond to her._

 _"Jerk huh?"_

 _"Yeah." She pursed her lips together and crinkled her brow. He never realized cranky could look that cute._

 _He shook that thought out of his head the moment he thought it. He had a girlfriend. He loved Elena. He shouldn't think of any girl as cute especially not his girlfriend's best friend. A sudden wave of guilt hit him to spending the entire evening here with Caroline without sparing Elena even a second thought. He was frustrated with himself, and Caroline didn't even seem grateful for his help._

 _It's not as if anyone else was here offering up their services to help._

 _"How am I a jerk? I'm the only one here helping you look for some stupid teddy bear" he yelled back at her._

 _"Oh, don't pretend that the only reason you're here is -" her sentence drifted off as he saw her eyes stray to the ground behind him._

 _"Oh my god" she whispered to herself as she slowly crept off past him. He turned around to face where her attention drifted off to when he saw it._

 _"Is that an ear?" He watched her bend down unearthing the bear from the ground, before whipping around to face him beaming the widest smile he's ever seen grace her lips._

 _"Ms. Cuddles" she cheered as she approached him bear hanging from her hands as he moved to wipe the dirt from its fur._

 _"I'm sure we can patch her up. Make her as good as new"_

 _"Yeah. Fully-" her sentence was cut off by the sudden decapitation of the bears head as the body plummeted to the ground beneath them. He stared wide eyed at the bear before raising his shocked face to meet Caroline's equally astounded one. A beat passed, before they both erupted with a laughter that echoed loudly through the woods._

* * *

He reached down picking up the memorable bear astounded small smile on his face.

"You still have it" he asked in a daze eyes fixated on the stuffed animal.

"Of course I do."

He breathed a laugh as he noticed the tattered old stitching by the ear.

"Look you can still see the stitching of when you sew the ear on upside down"

"I told you I couldn't sow" she huffed as annoyed now as she was when she did it. Blaming him. The grin stretched wider across his face as he fiddled with the little bears ears.

"So I'm assuming you won the war for then?"

She snatched the bear from his hands.

"Not exactly..." He gave a questioning look as her hands fiddled with the stuffed animal And she smirked looking the bear over.

"...Lizzie fell in love with her last year and so me and Bonnie agreed she could have her now" she smiled at the bear in her hands before gently placing her back in her place on top of the pile in the toy box.

"Wow. An outsider. Didn't see it coming"

She crooked a half smile at his joke causing a smirk to press against his own lips. He missed that smile.

"So. Was there something you wanted to tell me?"

She looked to him with a questioning gaze before he shifted his eyesight to the floor. Here it goes. He swallows hard this already being the hardest thing he's ever had to say to her. Hardest thing he's ever had to say aloud. Tongue darted out to moisten his bottom lip as he raised his gaze to meet an unnerving one of her own. Her piercing blue eyes were eyes again hypnotising him. Sending him into a trance. After a few seconds of just staring at her mouth hanging open he realised he didn't answer her question.

Probably because he didn't want to. He didn't want to be out of her life. He wanted to be at the centre of it. But she didn't want that. She was Happy in her life, and he just wanted her to be happy. She had a family. He had no right coming trying to bulldoze his way into it. She deserves better than that. This was for her own good.

"Listen-"

His sentence was cut off as he met yet another earth shaking sight.

Suddenly another little girl rounded the corner grinning ear to ear with the blonde who opened the door earlier. His eyes widened to saucers and head bowed backwards in shock.

Two? She had two?

"Mommy, Josie found them. They were under my bed" The little blonde one announced, with an adorable toothy grin as she held out her glittery pumps in the air.

"Shocking..." Caroline sarcastically smiled in good nature as her eyebrows hiked up.

"... Put them on we need to leave soon. Have you gone to the bathroom yet?"

The little girl's eyes widened and she looked as if she was suddenly about to burst.

"Uh-oh". Her little legs sprinted to what he assumed was the bathroom door. It was quite the amusing to see and she reminded him so much of a young Caroline. The sight brought a involuntary smile to Stefan's face. When Caroline turned to him she must of noticed because the smile on her her own instantly dropped and she looked to the floor. There was this weird tension in the room till Caroline cleared her throat.

"Josie, do you want to get your shoes too, honey?" Caroline asked delicately in a very mother like tone.

"I don't know where they are" the brunette shrugged her little shoulders biting her bottom lip.

Caroline sighed loudly rolling her eyes while a lightly amused smile.

"Did you try under Lizzie's bed?"

The little gasped as if she suddenly realised where she left them and without another word swiftly charged off to find them with great determination.

Stefan turned and gave an enquiring look to Caroline. His look was suppose to say what the hell? You have not one but two children and decided not to tell me? What the hell is going on here?

"They hide everything under that bed and think I don't know"

She clearly didn't understand the look cause she thought he was questioning how she knew the location of her shoes. Of everything going on that was probably the last thing on his mind.

"I can't reach them" the girl struggling declared, the yell muffled from where she was probably stretching out under the bed in the room down the hall. She sighed and pointed her finger in the direction of the bedroom.

"I better get her shoes for her, before she gets stuck under there"

Stefan coughed a laugh "Right". He watched as she wondered off in search for the little girls missing shoes. He didn't know what to do. He felt like he had wandered into some parallel world. He walk right into the middle of something here and didn't really know what to make of it. He never felt more awkward than he did right now in this moment, standing in this apartment.

He heard the opening of the door behind him and turned to see the petite blonde strutting into the room beaming smile on her face. 'Lizzie' he thinks was what Caroline called her. That was the name on the toy box as well.

She looked completely unaffected by the clear awkwardness of the stranger standing in the room as she proceeded to walk straight past him. Well she was only a child. He doubts she would care what he was doing here let alone understand. She looked up to him with apprehension in her eyes before just beaming a full stretching smile to him and jumping to fall on the couch adjacent to him with her glittery pumps still hanging loosely from her tiny fingers.

He peered over to the corridor hoping to God to see Caroline, so the awkward tension could be remedied by talking to an adult he actually knew and getting the hell out of this whole situation he walked blindsided into.

When he saw no sign of her he just peeked back at the little girl who continued to stare innocently up at him with a wide smile, legs dangling from the height of the sofa. He stretched a smile back at the cutie before peering back down the hall in search of Caroline. God would she hurry up. What was taking her so long?

He felt awkward enough sat here babysitting let alone not knowing the kid. When he peered back at said kid she had thankfully turned her penetrating gaze away from him and instead to her shoe laces as she struggled to tie them. He watched her fiddle and fail with the laces realising a fed up sigh.

Stefan smirked at the complete Caroline-ness of the action. After another failed four attempts he finally reasoned with himself to put the girl out of her misery.

"Do you want some help with that?"

She smiled looking up at him with a hero worshipping gaze.

He took that as a yes.

Kneeling down in front of the couch where she sat he reached forward and tied the laces on the right foot, as she watched intently each move he did as if trying to memorise it. Obviously she hadn't learnt how to tie her shoes yet.

He looked up to meet her eyes as he took hold of the left shoes laces describing his method and actions the same way he was taught.

"See, you make the bunny ears..."

* * *

 _"...The bunny goes around the tree, under the burrow and then just pull tight."_

 _His mother gave him a comforting smile to the four year old boy._

 _"Now you try"_

 _"You make then bunny ears.." he is little brows scrunched together in pure focus at the task in his little hands, determination running through his fingers to get this right._

 _"...the bunny goes around the tree..." His little fingers fumbled a bit as he struggled to get the laces to tie the way his mind commanded. He made a fed up sigh, ready to give up before his mother's words of encouragement echoed through his little ears._

 _"Come on Stefan. You got it"_

 _He continued in silence attention fully determined to do this. His tongue peeked out of the corner of his mouth, the way it did when his mind was in full concentration mode, like when he was trying to colour inside the lines._

 _"I did I it!" He cheered with an ecstatic grin._

 _"That's my boy..." She gave him a massive hug squeezing him as tight as she could. A little too tight._

 _"Uhhh. Mom. Can't breathe" he squeaked out._

 _"Sorry..." she wiped a lone tear that trickled down her cheek._

 _"... you're just growning up so fast. Tying your own shoes. Starting school" she began tickling his side's as he laughed and groaned out a mom._

 _"Do I have to go?"_

 _"Do you have to go where?" She asked warm smile still gracing her face._

 _"To school" he stated to which she tilted her head to the side in an understanding manner._

 _"Steffie sweetie, we all have to do things we don't want sometimes. That's life honey"_

 _"Can't I stay home with you?"_

 _"I'm afraid not my sweet little boy. You have to go to school and as much as I wish you could stay here forever, we all have to grow up a little"_

 _"I know. I'm just scared"_

 _"Well do you want to know a little secret..." he nodded "... I'm a little scared too. You know why? Cause I know as soon as you walk through that door you're not gonna wanna come back.." his mother began to tear up._

 _"...you're gonna have so much fun, and they'll be lots of new toys and books. You love to read" a young Stefan nodded lightly, a tear falling down his cheek to which his mother delicately brushed away with her thumb caressing a warm comforting smile_

 _"...and lots of children you're own age"_

 _"What if they other kids don't like me? What if they pick on me?"_

 _"Ain't no little babies picking on my brother..."announced a proud 10 year old Damon already decked out in his uniform as he ran to past by Stefan and their mother"...that's my job" He had ran out of the door so quick it was a blur. Stefan broke a small little smile at the corner of his mouth though his eyes still clouded in puddles of tears._

 _"Stefan sweetie. Whenever you get scared just close your eyes and take three deep breaths. You tell yourself you're ready for anything and I promise everything will be better. Do you think you can do that" he nodded his head and his mother locked him into a massive hug._

 _"That's my boy"_

* * *

"Thank you"

"You're welcome"

As he knelt down on the floor in front of the beaming little girl in front of him he felt an unrecognisable feeling in the pit of his stomach.

He finally took the chance to get a good look at the girl who threw his world into a loop moments ago. Thank god she had taken after her mother. He doesn't think he could cope with the image of Caroline mixed with another man forming a human being. In fact, it was breathe taking. She'd completely taken after her mother right down to the very light freckles scattered sporadically around her nose that was barely noticeable on Caroline and only really appeared when she was in the sun for a long time. Lizzie's freckles were slightly more prominent then hers in the cutest way. Her toothy grin was endearing. And the little fingers of hers that delicately fiddled with the handy work he'd done tying her shoelaces made him feel this ache in his chest.

He felt this sudden bout of accomplishment in something by just seeing that smile he put on her face, just helping her tie her shoes. He felt a fullness in his heart that was so abnormal to him at this point he was surprised he could feel that way.

As he looked into those hypnotic blues he felt a sense of calm. That everything was OK. His mother wasn't dying in that moment. Caroline didn't hate him. He wasn't leaving the place he called home and destined to be alone forever. None of that was going on.

Cause just looking at that smile he knew he at least did something right. He felt complete.

But that didn't make any sense. Did it?

He barely knew this girl. I mean she was cute and all, of course she was. She was Caroline's. But why did he have this feeling of something he couldn't quite put his finger on? Why we're the hairs standing up on the back of his neck? Why did he have this aching feeling in his chest?

In the back of his head he could say he knew why. He knew the reason he was feeling this way but he wasn't ready to confront it. Cause then it would be real. His conscious mind wanted to continue on blissfully unaware for fear. He was scared he knew. So he did what he was always taught to do when he was scared.

He closed his eyes tightly.

Took a deep breath.

And counted.

One.

Two.

Thr- "Who are you?"

His head whipped round to the face of yet another different little girl. This one had dark brown hair but memorable blue eyes.

3? She had 3 daughters now? These kids were popping up like friggin daises.

"Err... Stefan" he stated feeling intimidated.

She tilted her head to the right and squinted her eyes together, as if sizing him up. He felt oddly intimidated by this little girl's glare. She was so domineering. And although on the outside looked like a sweet innocent little girl, a part of Stefan would admit, he was a little frightened of the energy she exuded.

He looked up and noticed Caroline's presence back in the room, now with Josie hanging on her hip and a similar pair of glitter pumps that he helped Lizzie with, dangling from her right hand. She walked over to sit Josie on the couch next to Lizzie albeit a little flustered.

"Sorry. It's a little hectic today..." she muttered off handily slightly breathless to Stefan as she knelt down on the floor and tied the brunette's laces.

"...Hope!" She shouted loudly through the apartment and only then did he notice the scary like a horror movies demented child had disappeared from view.

"Yes."

Caroline slightly jumped up throwing a hand half dastardly across her chest to calm her racing heart, from when the little girl popped out of nowhere like a friggin ninja.

"Have you got you're things sweetie. Your dad will be here any second"

"Yep. I'm ready" the little girl declared tapping her bag back that hung from her hand before marching over and ploughing onto the cushioned sofa next to Lizzie and Josie.

Lizzie, Josie and Hope. That made three kids and a father soon to appear apparently. That's what he was piecing together as nobody seem keen to tell him what on earth was going on.

He knows he's been away and he probably didn't deserve an explanation to how everyone's lives moved on without him, but walking in on this was a little overwhelming. I mean she could have at least threw him a bone here. She could of just said Stefan 'I have a life and kids and a family and I don't have space for you'.

Thinking back now over the past few days events, maybe that was what she was trying to tell him. Not that it mattered now anyway. He already made up his mind. He was leaving. Leaving her to get back to her happy family life without any interruptions from him.

She finally finished tying Josie's laces before bouncing up like a spring to stand, combing her hair back with her hands giving herself half a second to catch her breath before giving him her full attention.

"Sorry"

"No. It's my fault, I didn't realise you-"

He was interrupted by the knocking sound that echoed the apartment. Both her and Stefan looked to the door. Him with a look of confusion but turning to look at her he saw a flash of relief as she swiftly marched over to answer it.

"Hey. Come in the kids are pretty much ready" she mentioned to the person standing behind. They were covered by the door so Stefan couldn't really get a good image of who it was. That was until he heard his voice.

"No problem. Thanks again for this Caroline. I don't know what we'd would have done without you"

He recognised that smug British accent before he even entered the apartment and it made his blood boil. He found himself wishing once again that he was anywhere but here.

"It's no problem. Anytime." Caroline tilted the door slightly allowing him full acess to enter. He was no more than a foot in the door before he was tackled into a hug by the little creepy kid.

"Daddy" she cheered as Klaus bent down sweeping her in a hoping hug to which she squealed with delight.

"Hello princess. You ready for your birthday surprise?" He asked excitably keeping his eyes trained on the little girl's now obvious reflection of her father's eyes.

"I already know it's a party. Lizzie told me" Caroline's eyes widened.

"Elizabeth Forbes" she scolded the smallest daughter of her collection.

"Sorry mommy" she squeaked out and he be damn if it wasn't the most adorable thing he ever saw of the girl looking guiltily caught red handed.

"It's OK. I already knew" Hope defended. He bet she did. He got the feeling nothing got past that girl just like her father.

Of course she was Klaus'. And not only did they have one kid though they had three? Seriously? But Klaus didn't live here. After all he knocked on the door. There was no pictures of him that he noticed around the apartment.

Maybe they were separated? Or maybe Klaus forgot his key and he was reading too much into it. Either way it wasn't any of his business. He shouldn't even be here watching this oddly domestic scene play out. He was an outsider. And he never felt more like one then in this moment.

* * *

 _"what are you doing out here on all on you're own?" he recognised Caroline's voice question from behind him before she sat down on the bench beside him stealing the half drunk bottle of bourbon from his hands._

 _"Oh you know just trying to get some fresh air..." she gave him a disbelieving look_

 _"..the party was a little crowded" he pathetically defended._

 _"Seriously?" His gazed locked in on the floor, completely focused on that odd looking blade of grass right next to his shoe._

 _".. look it's fine if you don't want to tell me. And if you want some space I can leave you -"_

 _"-no..." he gently reached for her arm delicately to pull her back to sit._

 _".. it's not you it's me. I'm kinda-"_

 _"-a loner" she interrupted. He coughed up a surprise laugh._

 _"Wow. You don't hold back do you"_

 _"Sorry. I'm being.." Her hands flailed looking exhaustively for the right words._

 _"... me. again aren't I? In my defence you knew I was like this when we agreed to be friends"_

 _He fought the unwanted smile to stay down but it was futile. For someone who done a lot of brooding he sure did smile when she was around. No matter what the circumstances._

 _He looked back down to his fidgeting hands in his lap as he listened to the distant echo of a thumping beat from the party occurring in the Lockwood mansion a small distance behind them. He then heard the much closer sound of Caroline's deep sighs right next to him as they sat in silence for a few moments. He saw her hands fall to her knees from the corner of his eye. She was probably sick of his little depressing wallowing in silence display and wanted to get back to the party. He closed his eyes taking a deep breathe._

 _"Well-"_

 _"-Elena and Damon are in there..." he opened his eyes turning to meet her sympathetic ones._

 _"...and they have this whole thing going on"_

 _He lightly shook his head trying to finds the words to explain what he was feeling. But he didn't really know what he was feeling._

 _"Ooook" she apprehensively cooed._

 _"They were just messing around. Joking and stuff but it's like they forgot I was there. And I kind of just felt like an outsider to this whole thing they had going on"_

 _"Look Stefan. I don't really know you very well and I know we've only been friends for a couple months but can I give you a bit of advice?..." he nodded for her to continue_

 _"...speaking as someone who very much knows how it feels to me an outsider among her friends. Have you ever thought of just talking to them about how you feel? I mean Damon's your brother and Elena's your girlfriend. I'm sure if you told them you felt uncomfortable they'd stop."_

 _"Is that what you do?"_

 _It was her turn to look down this time, not meeting his eyes._

 _"I guess it's easier said then done" She whispered lifting her gaze to meet his and it was a heated moment of pure vulnerability between them. For two people who didn't really know each other all that well they just aired a lot of insecurities those closest to them weren't all that aware of._

 _And as if suddenly realising the weakness just showed Caroline bounced back to her bubbly self._

 _"Well I'm gonna head back in there. When with you're done with your pity party I'll see you in there."_

 _It was then that he admired the facade that she could put up. The way she could just sweep her feelings under the rug and cover all feelings of self doubt from the outside world. I mean he did the same but more in a brooding, silent, distancing himself way. She did it with a dazzling smile and a spring in her step. She didn't let it hold her down._

 _He watched her retreating back bouncing with a skip back to the party swiftly. Just cause she could do that didn't mean he could. Sure he could pretend he was OK with Damon and Elena's weird tensioned friendship when they were around, but that didn't put him in exactly the party mood._

 _Sitting on that bench he felt a sudden foreign sense of loneliness which was non existent before Caroline turned up. It was weird. He likes being alone, and he was actually enjoying the peace and quiet moments ago. Being one with his own thoughts. He only now after his talk with Caroline came to the realisation of how depressing those thoughts actually were._

 _Taking a deep breathe he decided enough is enough and stood from the bench, turning around to go back to the party._

* * *

He felt odd watching the whole scene of their domestic life. Like a creepy stranger peering through a window into a happy family. Klaus finally looked away from the girl he held in his arms long enough to notice Stefan s presence.

"Stefan. Didn't see you there mate. Twice in one day. I'm starting to think you can't stay away"

Stefan forced a fake smile although the hate was clear in his eyes.

"You have no idea" he mumbled through gritted teeth.

Here was the guy who had everything he ever wanted and he was a complete an utter dick who didn't deserve any of it. OK Stefan knew he wasn't perfect but he was better than this guy.

"Daddy can we go to my party now" the child demanded in her father's arms.

"Alright princess we'll make a move now. I'll see the both of you at the grill?" He directed at Stefan and Caroline.

"Actually I won't be able to make it. I've got a flight to catch to New York in an hour so."

"Oh no worries mate. Whenever you're in town next though. We'll meet for a real drink. And by that I mean one that isn't from a sippy cup." He laughed. Stefan didn't find it funny so forced an entirely obvious fake smile.

"... Caroline?"

"Yeah. I just need to talk to Stefan and we'll meet you guys down there. Save me some of those sippy cups" OK so clearly Caroline found the joke funny.

Klaus laughed at that walking towards the door with Hope held firm in his arms and it made Stefan so uncomfortable just watching their parent humour. The weird dynamic between them of which he could never be part of.

"Thanks again for watching her Caroline. We would of never got everything done in time without you"

"Oh it's no problem..." She waved off with a swatting hand as they stood at the door

"...anytime. I'm just sorry about Lizzie spoiling the surprise and everything"

"Oh don't worry about it. This one is a little detective. She knows a lot more then she let's on." He looked down accordingly and said little girl who was posing an obviously mastered innocent face.

"It was great seeing you Stefan"

"You too" he lied through gritted teeth

"And I'll see you girls later. Say bye hope"

"Bye" the little girl waved.

"Bye" the other two girls simultaneously cheered waving from the couch.

"See you in a bit. Bye" Caroline smiled shutting the door as Klaus and Hope left the apartment.

She turned to face Stefan smile faltering slightly. Like the elephant in the room he was. Coming in and ruining her perfect family. At least he wouldn't be a burden much longer he reasoned with himself. He awkwardly looked over at the two little girls sitting patiently on the couch with wide impressionable eyes.

"Girls. Why don't you go play in Lizzie's room while I talk to Stefan". It seems Caroline sensed his uncomfortably

"But we want to go to the party" Lizzie whimpered to her mother, while sliding off the couch with Josie.

"We will go. Just go play for a few minutes while I talk to Stefan real quick and then we'll leave"

"But I wanna go now" she stomped her little foot in a temper tantrum he imagines was the exact replica of what Caroline use to do when she was that age.

"Elizabeth if you don't go to your room now you won't be going to the party at all" Caroline explained slowly in a commanding tone.

"OK. Come on Josie" The little girl grabbed hold of Josie's hand and ran as fast as her little legs could carry her.

Caroline made an audible sigh finally giving him her full attention.

"So. What was it you wanted to tell me" she asked apprehensively, like a part of her was truly afraid of what he was going to tell her.

* * *

 _He sat silent at the airport twiddling his thumbs._

 _"Last Call for flight 182 to New York boarding now."_

 _The announcement over the speaker echoed through his ears. He gulped down as he finally shifted his gaze up to look around him. The airport was relatively deserted at this late night. He was on the last flight out and the only people that were in sight were a few cleaning staff and a passengers sleepily lying across the seats from when they're already late flight had been further delayed._

 _He looked at the family in front of him. The man sat on the row of seats in front of him with who he assumed by the wedding bands on their fingers that were intertwined was his wife leaning asleep on his right side. His daughter lied across the row of seats resting her head on his lap on his left. They were the image of a perfect sleeping family._

 _He turned his head to the right to the image of an elderly couple whispering quietly to each other to which he assumed an amusing conversations based on the smiles on their faces._

 _Turning his head to the left was to the image of a cleaning man looked to be in his late forties with a fully grown moustache and bushy head of hair overflowing out of his baseball cap, broom in hand sweeping the floors._

 _He looked around at all these people and while they were a pleasant sight to see in their own right, none of them were the faces he was looking for. None were the face of the person he so desperately needed to see. None were Caroline._

 _He wanted more than anything for her to be here. For her to have followed him to the airport. Told him she made a mistake. That she loved him all along. For her to run through the airport just when he's about to board the plane and declare her undying love for him like one of those typical Rom-Com's she always made him watch._

 _But this wasn't a movie._

 _And that fantasy was just that._

 _A dream._

 _She didn't love him. She loved Klaus. And staying here would do nothing but crush him. He thought he was mad and he was. He was mad at her the entire ride here. For going back on her word. For going back to him. His anger fuelled the drive here. In fact he was so angry he didn't want to see her._

 _That was right up until the point it came to actually leaving. The point where they called his flight and it came time to physically leave her behind he couldn't do it. He sat frozen in space unable to move. Waiting. And waiting. But she didn't come. She wouldn't come._

 _"This is the last and final call for flight 182 to New York"_

 _Tears clouded his vision. A small part of him really thought she'd come. That at the very least she'd say goodbye. He didn't even get to say goodbye._

 _And that was the worst part. Cause at least if he went to say goodbye it would of felt more real when he decided to leave and it wouldn't of hit him and 11.46 at night in a deserted airport._

 _He felt the burn in the pit of his stomach. The gut wrenching feeling that he was making the biggest mistake of his life. The voice in the back of his head telling him it's not too late. He could just turn around. Go back. Back to Caroline. Back to his life._

 _He raised himself slowly from his seat looking down at the ticket in his hand swallowing hard. He took his first few steps forward before he felt the vibration of his phone in his back pocket._

 _His breathe caught as he reached for his phone with rapid speed. His heart soared for a flicker of a moment in expectation, before it plummeted to reality as he saw the message from his father. Not exactly the person he wanted it to be._

 _"I set up a meeting for you to meet with the head doctors on Monday morning at 9. I'm proud of you son"._

 _His eyes shut tight in disappointment and he bit the insides of his cheeks lightly nodding his head in acceptance of the inevitable. It was just a moment of weakness he reasoned with himself as he picked up his bag and turned around in a new direction to the one he was taking._

 _Handing his ticket to the air hostess at the door. He accepted the inevitable._

 _"Wow. Cutting it kinda of close aren't we" she teased._

 _"Yeah" he muttered sombrely._

 _"Well have a safe flight" she smiled handing him back his ticket._

 _He felt that annoyingly persistent burning sensation in the pit of his stomach but once again he ignored it as he whispered quietly to himself words of fortification before proceeding on his journey to New York with tears in his eyes._

 _"Goodbye Caroline"_

* * *

That same burning sensation that he felt in the pit of his stomach five years ago returned. Like his gut feeling was that he was making a mistake here in leaving again.

It was right back then. He knew that now more then ever. If he never left. If he just turned around and came back to talk to Caroline his life wouldn't be the mess it is right now.

May be it wouldn't of been perfect. He might not of ended up with Caroline. He might of been just as empty as he felt now but at least he would know. Even if after making the leap , he made the fall at least he would of known what it was like to make the jump. At least he would have no 'what ifs'. No regrets. So yes. He knew he made a mistake leaving and should of listened to that voice in his head telling him to stay instead of running from it. But it's too late to go back now.

The only question he had now that the feeling was back was if this was a mistake. Here and now in this moment. He'd convinced himself this was right. He was leaving for all the right reasons. That Caroline deserved to be happy. That this was the right thing to do. But then why was their that voice telling him this was a mistake.

"I guess I just wanted to say I'm sorry. Again. And I'm going to New York to see my mom..."

Looking at Caroline he realised why he never said goodbye last time. Cause looking in those hypnotic blue eyes he could never find the words for goodbye. He couldn't leave them.

He looked into her patient eyes and he saw happiness. He saw love and joy there was no denying that. But there was something telling him there was something missing. Maybe he was just seeing what he wanted to. Maybe he just hoped that the thing missing was having him in her life. But that was ridiculous.

Still the longer he looked into those eyes the stronger that feeling became. This was a a mistake. But it wasn't just that. It was different this time. Maybe looking her in the eyes to say goodbye had affected him more deeply than he first thought. He had this indescribable feeling that he needed to stay and not only for Caroline. Like there was something else he should be here for. Something he couldn't quite put his finger on.

He didn't listen to his gut last time, and his departure five years ago was the biggest mistake of his life. The thing he most regretted in his entire existence and he'd be damn if he was making that mistake again.

He wasn't leaving her again. He was going with his gut on this one. Of course he was still going to New York. He needed to go see his mother. Say any goodbyes he might need to. But then he would come back. He would earn his way back into Caroline's life. Even if he had to stand by and watch her play happy families with the man he hated.

"... But I'm coming back. And I'm not gonna leave again"

He saw he gulp as she slowly nodded her head in acceptance.

"Okay." He voice slightly cracked.

"Okay?" He queried a little surprised at how easily she took that.

"Yeah. I think you should go, be with your mom. And when you get back we'll talk, about... everything"

"Good" he whispered taking a breath of relief. A small smile twitched at the corner of his mouth. Relived that their relationship was finally making progress in the right direction.

"So anyway. I better get going. Catch my flight and all"

"Yeah and we got a party we need to get to so. Girls!" She called down the corridor as her daughter excitably jumped into view.

"You ready to go?"

"Yeah" they screeched jumping up and down in excitement as Lizzie fist pumped the air. He actually laughed at the sight.


	11. Ch 11: Who's The Daddy? II

**A/N : Ok. So I'm back and it's another long one😁. Before I get started I should probably let you guys know that the first flashback I wrote last chapter I changed and moved the old one into this chapter. (I just thought it went with the present timeline a bit better this way round) So if you want to read the new one you can take a look back at ch10 or if you don't want to read the one in this ch again just skip over it. (I get the feeling some of you might do that anyway when you get to that part😉). Sorry about the confusion, my heads been a bit of a mess these past couple chapters a little bit like Stefan's lol.**

 **A/N 2: I also really wanted to say a quick thank you to everyone who follows, favourites, reviews or even just reads the story. It really means so much to me and makes those late nights of writing so worth it so THANK YOU😘😘😘. I'll stop rambling now so you can read the story. Anyway hope you enjoy 💜**

* * *

"So. Give your mom my love ok."

"Yeah. Thanks Caroline"

She gave him one last departing smile as he walked away from her across the street. He unlocked his car door and took one last look over his shoulder at the hectic mother buckling her daughter's safely into their seats.

It was a far cry from the Caroline he use to know but he couldn't wait to get to know this Caroline.

He sat comfortably in his car taking a relieved breath before noticing the paper file that rested on the passenger seat in the corner of his eye. It was Caroline's medical file he had received from Nora at the hospital. For some reason he didn't quite understand why, he reached over and peered into the file.

There it stood. Clear as day. Elizabeth Forbes, daughter to Caroline Forbes.

Date of birth.

Wait.

But that would mean.

No.

It would mean that Lizzie was four years old. Nearly five.

And That would mean Caroline was pregnant when he left.

His heart started to race. His mind ever so briefly poised the question of whether he could possibly be the father before he laughed it off. Although there was no recognized father stated on records, it was evident in the display he just witnessed that Klaus was the dad of not only Lizzie but two other children as well.

He didn't know why they weren't on the records and he briefly began questioning it in his mind before blocking it out completely. He was digging in places that didn't need digging. It would only hurt him more he convinced himself. Besides she was with Klaus when he left so it made sense he was the father.

Stefan reached across the front seat and shoved the file into the glove compartment of his car.

Out of sight and out of mind.

He didn't really need to see that right now. It was stupid looking at it in the first place. He was being weird, he didn't know why. Ok he knew why but his mind wasn't going there. It was in denial. Taking a deep breath he shook it off thinking only of his mom. He needed to see his mom.

He inserted his keys and was about to ignite the engine before peering up through the windshield noticing Caroline kicking the back wheel of her car. He made a frustrated growl before pulling out his keys, opening the car door and hesitantly crossing the street back to her location.

"Hey. You alright?"

"Yeah. Just one of those days" she stated while waving a hand in the direction of the flat tyre.

"Well if you have your spare, I could change it for you if you want?" Stefan declared.

"I don't." Ok that stung he thought they were past this. Clearly the hurt was evident on his face when she turned to look at him.

"..I didn't mean that. I didn't mean that I don't want you to fix it I just meant that you can't fix it.." he lifted an eyebrow at her nervous ramblings.

"..what I mean is, I don't have a spare"

"Oh"

That made sense.

Actually it didn't. Caroline always prepared Forbes didn't have a spare tyre? He always figured her to be prepared for every possible scenario. Something as simple as a flat tyre he just assumed she'd be prepared for. Then again it was always him that handled her car maintenance. At least that's one part of her life she hasn't replaced him for someone else with yet. Even if it does get her into situations like these.

"Yeah... it's fine we can just walk" she declared opening the back seat door the girls were currently situated in.

"...come on girls. There's been a change of plans. We're walking to the party now"

That relieved a series of whines from the kids as Caroline reached down into the back seat undoing their seat belts for them.

"Or I could take you?" Stefan hesitantly questioned as she pulled Josie out to stand on the sidewalk next to him. Caroline shut the door before walking round the car to other door to release Lizzie from her car seat.

"It's ok Stefan. You need to get going"

"My legs hurt. I don't want to walk" Lizzie whined when Caroline pulled her out holding her on her hip as she shut the door. Stefan raised his eyebrows at Caroline.

"Well I guess I could just call-" OK. He's had enough of this.

"-Come on I'll take you..." Stefan determinedly declared bending down to pick up Josie before Caroline had any chance of protesting.

He looked to the girls in each of their arms full grins beaming with excitement. There's no way Caroline could say no to those smiles. He barely knows them but he knows he would be a sucker for those cheeky grins.

"Ok. Thanks..." She begrudgingly accepted his offer.

It did make sense. And it wasn't just for Caroline. He had a feeling if it was just her there's no way she would of accepted yet another horrendous car journey with him after the awkward ones they'd already shared these past few days. At least he knew she wouldn't jump out of the car mid journey this time. But it was clear she was doing this for the girls and he could accept that. He just wanted to make things a bit easier for her, that was all.

"... Ooooh. Car seats" she suddenly remembered to inform him, before they left the area of her car. It was news to him that kids these days even needed car seats but apparently they did. And let him tell you they were the devils way of putting you ever off wanting kids. They should teach putting car seats together in schools instead of sex ed. That would definitely cut back the teenage pregnancy rates.

He didn't like to brag but he's pretty sure he could take apart and put together the engine of a car. He can do repair work around the house, build a shelf, fix a fridge, but for the life of him he couldn't figure out the fiddling straps and buckles of the frustrating contraption in front of him. In two short clicks Caroline had efficiently strapped Lizzie in her seat while he struggled not having a clue what he was doing.

His face was in pure focus and determination, tongue even poking out at the corner of his mouth but he still frustratingly couldn't get the buckles to secure to his will. He peered an awkward smile to Josie as she stared wide eyed in fear at him.

After a painful few minutes of doing nothing but scaring the poor child with mumbled tuts and huffs, Caroline finally put them all out of the misery of watching the scene any longer and offered to take over. And just to rub it in his face she completed the task in about half a second with such ease, so effortlessly he looked like a complete moron.

Once she strapped Josie in correctly she opened the door to the passenger seat and pulled on her own seatbelt before appearing to have another sudden epiphany, as her eyes widened and seat belt sprung back with a zing. At the rate she was going he was surprised she had her head screwed on today. To be fair it did look like it was a hectic day for her.

"Oh. I forgot the present." suddenly she launched out of the car in a forgetful fashion similar to the way Lizzie forgot to go bathroom earlier that day. With a quirk on his lips he watched as she looked both ways before crossing the street opening the boot of her car.

He peered at his rear view mirror to glance back at the girls in the backseat who appeared highly excited either for the party or the new car they were in as they squirmed in their seats giggling away with each other. It brought a smile to Stefan's face at the adorable cuteness of the scene as he turned his gaze back onto Caroline who was now struggling to carry the rather large, pristinely wrapped blue and pink present across the street with another gift under arm. Stefan launched out in order to lend a hand of assistance reaching forward to grab the package from her hands.

"Here"

"-It's Ok I go-" he gave her no other option but to accept his help by grasping a firm hold on the present.

"Thanks" She whispered before spinning round to open the car trunk ready for him to empty the contents into.

"It's Barbie dream house and..." she plucked the slightly smaller present from under her arm "...the matching convertible"

He smiled at the grin she beamed just as excited as the girls were. "Right. Can't forget the matching convertible"

Unlike the journey with Caroline the day before which was filled with awkward silence and thick tension this one was filled with laughter and games. Mostly from the girls, although Caroline did join in now and again.

"Sorry about them. They're a little over excited" she muttered an apology to Stefan. She might of assumed he was uncomfortable due to his silence but in fact it was quite the opposite.

He was revelling in it. In a situation he should feel like a complete outsider in, he was actually enjoying watching Caroline in her new life. He loved being able to see the family she was part of with the added benefit of not having to think about the man who brought the lives in the back seat into fruition and completed the family dynamic.

It was a short drive to the grill, and Stefan even thought of driving round the block just to keep hold of the moment that little while longer but he knew they had lives to get back to and he had a dying mother to go see. That and the fact that Caroline knew these roads better then he ever did and would recognise a detour if he took it.

* * *

 _"What do you mean you don't know where we are?" Stefan irritabily questioned from behind the wheel._

 _"I mean this map is all wrong"_

 _"Really cause I think it's the person reading the map who's the problem"_

 _"I don't see you helping"she retorted meeting his anger._

 _"I'm driving. It was your job to navigate"_

 _"Yeah well I'm not good at navigating outside of Mystic Falls ok. I don't know how to read a stupid map"_

 _"Yeah evidently" He mumbled under his breathe as he huffed an aggravated sigh. She rolled her eyes at that._

 _"You know it's your uncle we're going to see. You should know where he lives without having to use a map"_

 _"Uncle Zach moved last year. I haven't been to his new house yet" he defended which was ridiculous that he even felt the need to defend himself. It was her fault the were lost._

 _"Well. Why don't you have GPS? We live in the 21st century now Stefan" She sarcastically retorted._

 _"You know what you're right. If I had one of those things I wouldn't need you here"_

 _"Great! Fine by me. You know next time you have one of your stupid family reunions you can leave me out of it"_

 _His hands gripped tighter on the steering wheel._

 _"Dont tempt me" he grumbled through gritted teeth before she huffed a fed up sigh._

 _"This is stupid. We've been driving forever. Can we not just ask for directions"_

 _"That's a great idea Caroline.." He hyped in a surreal cheery voice._

 _"... When was the last time you actually saw a person?" He gave her a deadpan stare_

 _"Well if you weren't driving on this dirt road there'd might be actual people around"_

 _"And who told me to get on this road Caroline?" He gripped at her, nostrils flaring._

 _"Oh that's great just blame everything on me"_

 _"I'm blaming you cause it's your fault"he snapped_

 _"It is not it's yours" she retorted childishly_

 _"How is it my fault it?"_

 _"It. I.. it just is ok..." She failed to get the words out. She knew full well this one was all on her._

 _"... you know what. I'm not talking to you for the rest of this trip"_

 _"Hah. I'll believe that when I see it" knowing full well she could never work the silent treatment. She'd crack in about 5 minutes._

 _An hour later and the atmosphere in the car was still frosty. Caroline true to her word hadn't muttered another syllable to him and although he enjoyed the peace and quite the first few minutes now it was just awkward._

 _Turns out he actually didn't like a silent Caroline. This was probably the longest time they've ever been in each others presence without muttering a word and it showed. They didn't really know how to act around each other. He could feel the heat of her eyes on him but every time he turned to face her she snapped her head in the opposite direction._

 _He even tried fiddling around with the radio stations trying to get a word out of her. She always had an opinion about that, but today she said nothing. She must of been biting her tongue so hard he was surprised it wasn't bleeding cause she hadn't muttered a word. She hadn't sung a song, or hummed a tune. Not even to Bon Jovi._

 _Desperate for a way out of this awkward air they had and hoping to move past their slight tiff Stefan hoped to just spark conversation as if nothing ever happened. He wanted bubbly non stop talking and singing to the radio Caroline. And it would be nice if they could get back to normal before they arrived at his uncle's._

 _He cleared his throat to try and dust the cobwebs after not speaking for so long._

 _"Dont worry I think we're nearly there. I'm pretty sure it's somewhere along this road."_

 _Nothing._

 _And May wonders never cease a silent Caroline Forbes she continued to be._

 _"Hopefully we get there before Damon. You know he always claims the biggest room. It's why we left so early but he might beat us there at the rate we're going." He winced in distaste at hearing his own words._

 _That sure sounded like he was having a go again and based on her reaction as she merely stuck her chin out and turned her gaze to cast out of her window, that's definitely how she perceived it. He didn't mean it to sound that way but the words were flowing out like word vomit. The weird atmosphere between them was putting the pressure of conversation on him for once and it appears he caught Caroline's foot in mouth syndrome._

 _Maybe he should stick to more neutral topics he mentally reminded himself. Something that had nothing to do with this car journey. Something good._

 _"... So Zach said Sarah's been non stop talking about seeing you again. He said she's so excited."_

 _Again nothing. Damn the silent treatment from Caroline was cold. For such a a bright sunny person the girl could be a real ice queen when pist._

 _"So remind me when we get back that I need to change the oil on your car"_

 _That one miraculously seemed to make her snap._

 _"What so you don't have to have the displeasure of driving me around. Thanks" she sarcastically complained arms folded body slouching back into her seat._

 _For God sake he was trying here. She didn't need to be so rude. This was all her fault in the first place lets not forget. All he was doing was trying to make amends and she was basically telling him to shove his olive branch where the sun won't shine._

 _"Yep. That's my fault too right that I need to fix_ you're _car"_

 _"I never asked you too"_

 _"No you just expect me to"_

 _"You offer"_

 _He ran a tongue over his teeth, his nostrils flaring in anger. He didn't really have a comeback to that. She was right he did offer. But she didn't need to be so ungrateful. Luckily he didn't need a comeback as he saw what he recognised as his uncle's house from the pictures fast approaching._

 _"We're here."_

 _"Great."_

 _"Fantastic"_

 _She huffed loudly at his snipping before muttering angrily under her breathe as she opened her door._

 _"This is the last time I'm ever getting in a car with you"_

 _"Works for me." He declared loudly making sure she heard the comment._

 _Thank God the car journey from hell was over._

* * *

He pulled up on outside of the grill with a slight pang of disappointment that the journey was over, but there appeared to be a differing opinion with the girls in the back as he heard the high pitched squeal of excitement.

Caroline opened her door hoping out unbuckling Josie first this time which was a bit strange as she was on the other side of the car to Caroline. He figured of the two Lizzie was more likely to run off if you turned your back for a second, although neither looked as bad as Hope as he already experience earlier that day. No wonder Caroline was a little all over the place today. She certainly had her hands full.

He got out deciding to help her out by releasing Lizzie who was practically shaking in elation. He took a long weary look at the car seat not looking forward to wrestling the beast again so soon after his last fail but luckily, releasing her from her seat was evidently a lot easier than it was buckling her in, as with one swift click she was free.

His breath caught gazing into the hypnotic blue excitable eyes of the girl in his arms. Not for the first time today his heart started to race. His breathe hitched as she beamed up at him an adorable grin, and he smiled an easy smile back at her but it faltered when he caught the look from Caroline in the corner of his eye.

Turning more to face her, she looked liked she'd seen a ghost. She was paling in colour almost as white as a sheet as he her swallow down hard. She shook her head lightly out of her haze gaze cast downward to the floor.

What the hell was that?

He placed Lizzie carefully down on the sidewalk next to Josie and the girls were practically jumping on the spot with eagerness as Stefan went to open the trunk of his car. He made motion to pick up the parcel from the boot but Caroline manage to beat him to it.

"Its fine. I got it. You probably need to get going. Thanks again Stefan..." he could no longer see her face as she was swallowed by the neatly wrapped bundle.

"...girls, what do you say to Stefan"

"Thank you Stefan" they simultaneously responded adorable smiles and all.

"It's no problem"

"Mom can we please go in now. Please" Lizzie begged, hands clasped together in desperation not that Caroline could see it with her vision was covered.

"Yeah Ok. Come on. Thanks again Stefan." She rushed out slightly breathless. It seemed like she was keen to get away from him after whatever that was.

"Don't mention it" he looked to her with longing eyes as he shoved his hands in the pocket of his jeans.

His gaze never wavered from them as they made the few steps to the entrance door and Caroline struggled to get a hand free to reach the handle without dropping the present on the floor. He watched next as both Josie and Lizzie stretched up as high as they could on the tip of their toes to reach the handle in futile attempts as they were both just that little bit too short. Caroline continued to struggle in balancing the package before Stefan couldn't watch the struggle any longer.

"Here I got it" He took the object from her.

"I thought you have a plane to catch"

"I do. I'm just gonna help you through the door"

"Ok. Thanks" she opened the door, and then spread her arms wide in attempt to take the present back into her hands before he walked past her through the entrance.

"Where do you want me to put it?"

"Umm. I don't know. Maybe they put the presents by the - Oh Klaus!" She called out for his attention from across the room.

"Hey Caroline. Hey girls, the kids are all over there with Hope if you want to go play" he pointed to the direction of a group of about thirty screaming kids across the room while bending over talking to the girls.

"Can we mom?" Lizzie asked excitedly.

"Of course"

Next thing he knew they were both off like a rocket far out of sight into the sea of running children.

"Stefan. I thought you had a plane to catch"

"I do. I just came to help Caroline drop this off"

"Speaking of. Caroline you didn't have to go so big"

"Oh I was given clear instructions in _exactly_ what present to get and how big I needed to go" They both laughed at that. By the sounds of it her daughter was about as much a control freak as her mother.

"Well there's a table in the back. I'll show you"

"Thanks" .

Stefan finally dropped the present onto the table covered with colourfully wrapped gifts. None were as neatly wrapped as Caroline's though. In fact the rest all looked quite scruffy by comparison.

"So. Drinks?"

"-Oh. No. I'm not staying."

"-Stefan's not staying" They interrupted at the same time.

"I mean you have a plane to catch right?" She clarified. His lips bunched together. It's pretty clear she doesn't want him hanging around longer than he needs to.

"Yep. In fact I better get going"

"Ok bye." She stretched a fake grin to him like he wouldn't completely see through it.

"Right. I'll see you when I get back"

"Sure" and there was that fake smile again. This didn't feel right? Did she not believe him or something?

"Caroline I'm coming back"

"I believe you"

"Then why are you acting weird"

"I'm not acting weird. You're acting weird"

He coughed an unsurprised laugh at her childish retort. He knew the whole civil Caroline thing wouldn't last long but come on she didn't last half an hour. He shook his head from side to side biting his cheeks and not meeting her eyes. He really thought it would be different this time.

He couldn't do this again with her. They were on a fine line as it was and him getting pushy would just scare her away.

Knowing better than to push his luck and risk her snapping at him he decided it was probably best for him to just leave now. Just a as he made that decision and opened his mouth to say goodbye she dismissed him with a 'whatever' and sauntered off into the crowd of people.

He peered over to Klaus to gauge his reaction and at least he he had the decency to look just as uncomfortable as he felt with the snapping mood swings of Caroline.

"You sure I can't tempt you to at least one drink?" Klaus tried his luck.

A drink actually sounded pretty good right now, but no way in hell was he having one with this guy. He was seconds away from telling him where he could shove that drink when Caroline's disappointed face flashed through his mind. He didn't want to make things difficult for her. He just decided he wanted to fight to be part of her life and that means accepting Klaus as part of it. He needed to at least be civil to him if he was to earn back Caroline in his life.

"No I really should-"

"-Daddy, Daddy. Can I have my birthday cake now?" Little Hope came running in.

"Why don't you ask your mother"

The little girl gave a fed up sigh as her little legs carried her across the room. He watched the direction she was running, right about to approach Caroline on the other side of the room when she took a sudden right. He assumes she either didn't see her or completely forgot her train of thought and ran off to play with her friends instead.

"She looks just like you"

"You're kidding. She's beautiful. It's all her mother. But don't tell her I said that. I'm still trying to keep the bad boy reputation round here." He smirked his signature look.

"Something tells me fatherhood has made you all gooey" Stefan teased before he spotted an approaching brunette over his shoulder.

"Klaus. Can you deal with our daughter. She's demanding everyone to dress up as fairy princesses for when I bring the cake out and I can't find the candles. She's driving me nuts."

Hold on a second _our_ daughter?

"You're daughter?" He questioned quite astounded.

"Oh. Sorry mate. I keep forgetting you've been away. Stefan this is Hayley. Hope's mother"

"Nice to meet you" she answered shaking his hand although she looked to have more pressing matters to attend to than meeting him.

"You too." He managed to stuttered out, shocked by this revelation.

"They're in the kitchen next to the cake"

"Could you help me. Just for once" she exhaustively complained.

"-Fine..." He sighed before turning to face Stefan "...Duty calls" and with that he watched the couple walk out of view bickering with one another as they left him standing there all alone.

So Hope wasn't Carolines daughter? Had he completely misread the situation? No he couldn't of. Thinking back on it now Caroline was probably just watching their daughter while he assumed they got the party all set up. Things started to click into place in his mind. If Klaus was Hope's father and he gave no inclination to being the father of the other two may be he wasn't the father of Carolines kids.

So trying to work this out straight in his head Hope wasn't Carolines daughter. Elizabeth definitely was according to the medical records and the fact that she kept calling her mom. Josie was the question mark though. The quietest of the girls wasn't technically listed in Carolines records but there was no indication that she wasn't her daughter. There appeared to be no other mother in sight and add to that the mystery of who the father of these children where Stefan was beyond confused.

His mind set off warning bells that this line of questioning would do no good for him right now. He shouldn't be asking questions he wasn't ready for the answers to and he already had enough on his plate. Knowing the identity of the father of Caroline's children would only cause him more pain when he eventually did discover the truth. Still apart of him deep down was elated to discover Klaus wasn't it.

His mind was a mess. He really needed to get out of here and go see his mother. Maybe that would help clear his thoughts. He set his searching eyes to the swarm of people that packed out the room hoping to catch one last parting glimpse of Caroline before he left when another familiar face came into view.

The face of the once love of his life.

Elena Gilbert.

* * *

 _"Hi" she made him jump back with a startled fright. Snapping his journal shut on his desk as he turned to face the last person he expected to see, which was saying a lot cause she was his girlfriend._

 _"Hey what are you doing here?" He questioned swiftly making his way across his bedroom over to her and planting an affectionate kiss on her soft lips._

 _"Damon let me in. I came to see you" He smiled at that as her eyes shifted behind him to the now shut journal on his desk._

 _"I saw you writing. All about me I hope"_

 _"Oh. It's always about you" she raised her eyebrows at that._

 _"... in a good way" he clarified._

 _"Well you're all I write about in mine too" she kissed him again with a smile on her lips._

 _"Oh yeah? What do you write about me?"_

 _"About meeting you. How you changed my life. You know our life together... our future" he pursued his lips fighting the smile down as she seductively stroked a finger up and down his chest before wrapping her arms securely around his neck._

 _"Our future?" He prodded._

 _"Yeah. You know when we're an old married couple with kids. Do you ever think about that stuff?"_

 _Honestly no._

 _Stefan hadn't really thought that far ahead in his life yet. He and Elena had only been together for 4 months and although he loved her more than he ever thought he could love somebody, his mind just hadn't gotten that far into his future yet. He knew he wanted to go to college and then med school. Become a doctor. Obviously he knew Elena would be with him for all of that._

 _He couldn't imagine his life without her at this point. They were most definitely going to be together forever. That wasn't even a question in his mind. But the idea of marriage and kids. And the fact that Elena was thinking about that made his heart soar._

 _The fact that she thought he worthy of the man she spends forever with made him giddy. It made him start to ponder that part of their future too._

 _"So how many kids will we be having then?" He played into their fantasy future with a massive grin on his face wrapping his arms tighter around her waist._

 _"I want two... A boy. And a girl." She stated in simple terms. Knowing exactly what she wanted._

 _"How bout you. How many do you want?"_

 _"As many as I can get" he declared without a second thought nuzzling the tip of his nose against hers before gracing her with a quick brief peck on the lips._

 _"Oh yeah?" She blushed._

 _"Yeah. When we're married with our dream jobs. And the time's right. We'll have the big house-"_

 _"- with a red front door" she interrupted raising a finger to her one condition bringing a smile to Stefan's face as he continued_

 _"-with a red front door and a porch that wraps around the whole house. With a the perfect porch swing for you and a massive backyard for the kids."_

 _She giggled at the fantasy as Stefan beamed at the thought of a future with the woman he loved more than life itself._

 _"And what about you?"_

 _"I get my own study. A massive library where I can have some piece and quiet without you or the kids bothering me"_

 _She offendedly shoved his shoulder mouth wide open._

 _"I'm kidding. I won't need anything. I'l have you"_

 _"I can't wait for that day" She gushed biting down on her lower lip._

 _"Me either. I love you"_

 _"I love you too Stefan. And I'll love you Forever."_

* * *

"Stefan?" The brown eyed girl questioned looking pleasantly surprised. Well this was the warmest welcome he'd received coming home. Who would of thought Elena would be the only person happy to see him.

"Elena. Hi" she swiftly walked over wrapping him in a warm embracing hug before leaning back adoring a welcoming smile.

It was quite surreal. He knew he was over Elena a long time ago but was quite surprised at the fact that there was no lingering feelings there. Not a flutter of emotion. Not that he didn't miss her. Of course he did. She was a friend, and they were good friends before he left her in the dust too. But by comparison of when he first saw Caroline after five years away there was none of those feelings there.

He didn't yearn for her the way he once did. When he saw Caroline the entire world stopped. Tilted on its axis and threw him into a storm of emotions. Maybe he was too far into that storm to even be able to handle the baggage of guilt leaving everyone else he left behind, but Elena didn't seem particularly mad about it either. He was so grateful for that. He had enough problems to deal with at the moment.

"O my gosh. It's so good to see you Stefan"

"You too"

"I heard you were back but I didn't believe it till I saw you."

"Yeah. Well I'm back. Actually leaving right now but I'm coming back"

"What do you mean you're leaving?"

"Well I'm heading back to New York for a few days but after that I'll be back home for good."

She smiled at that nodding gently. At least she believed him unlike Caroline.

"Have a drink with me?"

"I can't I got a plane to catch"

"When's your flight?"

"About half an hour"

"Well you have time for one drink then" she hooked her arm through his elbow dragging him to the bar.

"Elena I can't miss my flight" That was a lie. He did have a private jet. It meant he could be a little late. It would wait for him. But that's not the point. He didn't want to wait. He wanted to see his mother now. As soon as he could.

"Just one. I promise"

She ordered their drinks from the bartender. Wine for her and his signature bourbon.

"For the record five years is too long to go without seeing you"

"I know. So how you been Elena?"

"Me? I've been great. I'm a nurse now. Well school nurse at the elementary school. Its great. I get to work with kids, help them get better. I really love it"

"Got none of your own running around just yet then?" He questioned wondering whether her life took a similar direction to the way Caroline and Klaus' had gone. It seemed that almost every face he'd run into from his past had kids at the minute he suddenly realised.

"Oh, no. I'm leaving the whole young mom thing solely on Caroline at the moment."

"Right. Well you seem different. You seem happier"

She nodded at that, small smile lighting up her face.

"And you? Are you happy?"

His jaw clenched eyes set downcast to the floor. When his eyes finally met hers he saw the sympathy exuding from her. His non answer being a clear sign to where he was at in his own life.

The corner of his eye caught sight of Caroline across the room talking to a man he didn't recognise. He brazenly gawked over at her and watched in slow motion as she rest her dainty hands on the mans forearm. She was smiling while chattering away to him with complete ease and comfort in a way she hadn't with him in such a long time. Stefan couldn't help but questioned who this guy was to her. Was he the dreaded father Stefan so vehemently didn't want to think about?

"Hey. Who's that Caroline's talking to?" He asked Elena, eyes not wavering from the couple across the rooms direction.

"Oh, him? That's Ric."

"Ric?" He spat out with distaste. His glare hardened and he could feel the shooting daggers his eyes were sending their way.

"Well Alaric's his full name..." She explained. That's even stupider then Ric.

As if she could sense his eyes on her Caroline's head suddenly snapped in his direction. Their eyes locked across the room and his thoughts were suddenly just consumed to her. She was all he could think about and he wanted to keep himself in her thoughts even as she talked to this other guy. He wanted her to think of no one else the way he did.

He kept his stare penetrating and without falter. Of course the disinterest in Caroline's face was clear. Especially as she turned her sight away from and engaged back in conversation with 'Ric' as if nothing happened. She looked right through him as if he didn't even exsit.

His and Elena's drinks arrived and not a moment to soon for Stefan. He gripped a tight hold of the glass shocking himself that it didn't shatter in it strain. He didn't realise how much he'd been craving a drink all day till he held the brown liquid in his hand. He gulped down the smooth alcohol sensation as he listened to Elena prattle on about the man in question hanging onto every detail.

"..Alaric Saltzman to be specific. He's a professor down at Whitmore."

Stefan bit the inside of his cheeks nodding to the info Elena relayed as his eyes stalked across the room at said man conversing with Caroline. He swallowed hard another large gulp of his bourbon before enquiring the dreaded question plaguing his mind.

"So is he Caroline's boyfriend or something?" He turned his serious expression to Elena hoping for her to put him out of his misery and just tell him the truth. It seemed no-one else was gonna say anything and the liquid courage he gained from his drink just so happened to put her in the firing line when he decided to face his problems head on.

Seems fitting she always was the one to break his heart.

* * *

 _I'm sorry Stefan. It's not that I don't love you, cause I do. It's just-"_

 _"-You love him more. Yeah I get it"_

 _"I just...We.. He makes me happy"_

 _"And I don't." He mumbled clenching his jaw._

 _"No. It's not that Stefan of course you make me happy. It's just..." She sounded to be struggling for the words. Like she didn't know how to describe it. His gaze finally lifted from it's fixed position on the floor to meet hers._

 _".. I- I don't think I make_ you _happy" she solemnly declared and only now that he met her eyes did he see the tears glistening in them._

 _He took a deep breath at seeing those beautiful hazel eyes that he'd once do anything for be in pain. But he couldn't fix this. He couldn't fix them._

 _He was sure the pain in her face was a mere fraction of the pain reflected in his own cause he just didn't see this coming._

 _But he couldn't keep living like this._

 _He was pining for a woman in love with someone else. He needed to let her go._

 _"I can't do this Elena. Not anymore."_

* * *

"Oh. No. Definitely not. No. In fact, the poor guy just lost his wife."

"His wife?"

"Yeah. Jo. She was she was one of the leading doctors in Mystic Falls. Died a few months back."

"Oh."

"Yeah. It sad. She was such a nice lady. And they were so happy. Nobody saw it coming ya know"

"Yeah" he awkwardly mumbled.

Now he felt bad. He was giving the poor guy evils since the moment he saw him with Caroline. He was just so terrified of having to watch Caroline with another man. Of course it made no sense. They weren't together. She hadn't been his for a long time. Well technically she was never really his. And he knew a time was coming that he would have to face the fact that Caroline had moved on to someone who would love her more than anything and worship the ground she walked on. And that guy wouldn't let her go, cause who in their right mind would let Caroline Forbes go?

And that guy he knew he wouldn't be able to win her back from. When the time came he had to face that man he knew it would all be over.

But this guy wasn't it. He let his jealously take over and was taking it out on some poor widower who had nothing to do with this. The guy had enough of his own problems.

"It's just him and Josie now"

"Josie?"

"Yeah. His daughter. I know Caroline's been helping him out and all but I mean it must be hard for him. Adjusting to being a single parent"

She turned a sympathetic smile to the man in question and only now did he realise the bags under his eyes, the strain in his smile and comforting demeanour in Caroline's facial expression.

"He'll be OK though..." Elena noted in a sure tone.

".. I mean Caroline manages just fine right?" his head whipped round to face her in a frantic fashion.

"So Caroline's..." He let the sentence drift off just hoping Elena could pick up on what he wanted but was afraid to know.

Was there another guy he had to compete with to be part of her life? Was he trying to barge in on someone else's family.

Elena held a knowing smile. Like she knew what was going on in his head and saw right through him. Although at this point only an idiot wouldn't see his feelings for Caroline clear as day.

"Caroline's only got time for Lizzie. That's what she says anyway. But she's happy. Her and Lizzie are really happy" she continued that knowing smile at him as his own lips twitched at the corners. Caroline was happy. That's all he ever really wanted.

He saw a distraction in the brunettes attention as her eye line filtered over his shoulder but her smile only seemed to brighten. He turned to see the object of her attention in recognition of Lizzie running around with Josie and Hope.

"Now those three together are trouble". He swallowed down hard as he and Elena watched the trio play.

"Elena? Who's Elizabeth's father?"

"What?" She perplexed completely startled by his question.

"Sorry. I shouldn't of asked that" he immediately retracted.

That was just a moments weakness. A sudden bout of just needing to know the truth of this whole situation he found himself in. But it wasn't Elena's place to tell him and he shouldn't be dragging her into this mess.

"-No. It's just I always thought..." She shook her head lightly out of her thoughts.

"... I don't really know. Caroline just said it was a one time thing..."

His eyes faltered over to the girl in question. So Elizabeth was Caroline's one and only daughter. She was five years old. Didn't have any father it appeared. It was a one time thing. His eyes narrowed as both Hope and Josie ran off in a different direction while Lizzie remained still.

"...apparently he ran off the moment he found out. Caroline doesn't really like talking about it..."

What a dick. Stefan wished he was there. He should of been there for Caroline at a time like that. He laughed in his mind. For a brief second there he thought it was him. That he was the father. But there's no way that would happen.

Elena said it herself. Caroline told the guy and he did a runner. And Caroline certainly never told him. It was just his mind playing tricks with him. It's been doing it all day. Maybe just the wonder of being forever bonded to Caroline was too big a fantasy for him that it's been conjuring its own possibilities and jumping conclusions. He needed the confirmation to lay the dream to rest and finally open his eyes to reality.

".. but this isn't really my place Stefan. You should talk to Caroline about it"

He saw Lizzie's gaze look down at her laces as he heard Elena get roped into some conversation with the bartender as a blurring background noise. His attention zeroed in on the girl in front of him. He took an involuntary step forward without quite knowing why. Maybe cause he knew she struggled with tying her laces, but he abruptly stopped in time to watch her set upon the task on her own.

She knelt down on one knee and fumbled a bit on looping the bunny ears but once she got that she was on her way. Her face held that purely determined look the mirror image of Caroline's. She looked to be reciting the rhyme he taught her earlier that day in her mind as she mutely nodded to herself.

Her eyebrows brooded together in a startlingly familiar nature.

He felt his heart do that racing thing again. His breathe came out in pants as it became shallower and heavy at the same time. He felt he couldn't breathe as his throat tightened. He was on the cusp of a panic attack when it happened.

Her little tongue poked out of the corner of her mouth the way it probably did when she was in pure focus.

The way his did.

His heart stopped.

No.

There's no way.

It's not possible.

Caroline would of told him.

No.

He downed the remaining contents of his drink in one fell swoop.

Ok

He was done with just standing here clueless.

He was done being confused and just guessing jumping to the wrong conclusions every time.

So he swiftly departed away from Elena without a word in a haze towards the door he saw Caroline just exit out of. He was going to finally just ask her. Because there's absolutely no way Caroline would have his kid and never tell him. It's just not in her.

* * *

 _"That's terrible. Every child should know their father"_

 _She was referring to the bomb he just threw at her. The pregnancy news of one Hayley Marshall and unknown identity of said father of the bump. He was told through his mother who found out by Carol Lockwood, who apparently ran into her at the grocery store sporting a noticeable bump. When questioned she was apparently impervious to the identity of her baby daddy. At least that's the story that was spreading. He had an incling the woman just didn't feel the need to pacify town gossips. Not that he knew her, but that's how he would feel to the inquisition of the housewife gossips this town pose when they find a bone._

 _"I don't know. I think it would of done me some good not knowing mine" Stefan mumbled still bitter over his argument with his father this morning._

 _"Hey, he's just trying to do what he thinks is best for you..." Caroline defended, gently trying to ease the the tension between him and his father._

 _"...At least he's trying. I mean my dad barely showed up after he found out he was gay"_

 _"Hey.." he softly nudged her arm to wake her from her sad daze. "...So whose do you think it is?" Stefan questioned hoping to distract her from the sad turn the conversation just took. Stefan wasn't really one for gossip, but he knew Caroline, and he new she liked to ponder the possibilities of a good mystery. That and he wanted to get her mind off her dad._

 _Her eyes widened and mouth slacked open._

 _"What if it's Tyler's" she whispered almost to herself. Stefan laughed at that before noticing the solemn look on her face forcing a look of confusion to spread across his own._

 _"Umm Caroline, I know you suck at math but that was like 2 years ago"_

 _"So?"_

 _"I knew I'd have to be the one to explain this to you one day..." he positioned himself to fully face her on the couch. He narrowed his eyes the way he did when he was trying to be serious but was really just teasing her. He then proceeded beginning to patronisingly explain agonisingly slow before she interrupted._

 _"...So this thing happens, then it usually takes about 9 months-"_

 _"- No I know you idiot. I'm just saying people get back with ex's all the time right? I mean, this could be one of those times."_

 _"OK. I doubt that's what happened" he commented trying to relax her. She looked slightly worked up by the ridiculous notion in her head that her first love might be having a child with his once mistress._

 _"You don't think it's a little coincidental that he cheats on me just before we started college. Then two years later, this same girl's pregnant and nobody knows who the father is?"_

 _She narrowed her eyes to him in a questioning manner. He in turn just looked at her bewildered._

 _"No"_

 _He stated simply before noticing her dissatisfaction with that answer. He took a fed up sigh. Before gently reaching out to hold her small hand in his._

 _"Look. That ended so long ago. The chances of it being his are pretty slim. OK?_

 _"But it's possible"_

 _He rolled his eyes at her defiance to see the obvious. That baby was clearly not Tyler's. She was talking crazy._

 _"Well I guess it could technically be-"_

 _"-see!" She exclaimed before he even had chance to finish his sentence, stretching out her hands between them, causing his to fall out of her grasp. His nostrils flared and a sudden annoyance coursed through his veins._

 _"What does it even matter. You and Tyler aren't even together anymore" Stefan retorted a little harshly, voice raising slightly._

 _"Doesn't mean I want him to have a baby with the girl he cheated on me with.." Caroline defended voice rising to the same level. His eyes darted around not meeting hers until he sensed the lowering softness of her tone in her voice set in. ".. can you imagine what people will say about me?" Her head was hung low depressingly looking to her fidgeting hands._

 _"Tyler was a moron who gave up the realest relationship he ever had. He knows he screwed up when he lost you. And besides no one will look at_ you _any different..." he grabbed hold of her fidgeting hands in his once again and she finally raised her head to meet his eyes."...you're just as perfect as you've always been"_

 _She rolled her eyes shoving his shoulder playfully, as he presented a teasing smirk but in actuality he really meant those words. In fact he believed them to be the truest words he ever spoke. Caroline Forbes was pretty much perfect._

 _"You're probably right anyway. I mean I doubt it's his ... and even if it is I mean people who split up usually split up again at some point right. I mean only Damon and Elena pull off the whole on again off again thing"_

 _Stefan snickered at that. "Speaking of which, is off again this week. Something about him punching her friend Aaron who he thought she was having an affair with or something. I don't know". He rolled his eyes and shook his head at the complicated relationship he could never quite understand._

 _"What? I didn't hear about that. Look at you with all the gossip"_

 _He shrugged his shoulders at that with a teasing smirk._

 _"What can I say people talk to me"_

 _"You mean Damon got drunk and cried like a baby"_

 _He raised his eyebrows at that with an amused smile, to which she giggled._

 _"I mean I would say I want to know but if Elena hasn't even told me yet I'd say she probably already forgave him. Honestly, I don't know how the two of them do it. I don't think I could ever be in that an unstable a relationship"_

 _"You use to break up with Tyler like twice a day when you were with him" He smirked a teasing smile with hooded brows._

 _"That was the old Caroline.." He gave her an unbelieving deadpan stare, as she stretched her legs out across the couch her feet resting on top of his lap._

 _"... I'm so much more mature now" he flat out laughed at that._

 _"Right"_

 _"I'm serious" she whinged reaching forward, lightly shoving his shoulder._

 _"Seriously?" He asked skeptically raised eyebrows, small smile still fighting at the corners of his lips._

 _"Yes..." she emphasised digging her foot into his ribcage till he winced grabbing hold of her foot. He gently began gripping the arch of her foot it in his hands, massaging the from the heel down to her toes firmly._

 _"...You can never go back. I know that now." She pulled her feet out of his grip towards herself hugging her knees to her chest turning back to face the TV. A few minutes passed in silence as Caroline stared at the screen, while Stefan continued to gazed at her. He swallowed hard the knot in his throat before asking the dreaded question that had been plaguing his mind for quite some time now._

 _"So, you're saying. You and Klaus..." he mumbled, eyes cast down at his fidgeting hands in his lap._

 _"-Are so dunzo." She interrupted. He chuckled at that, finally looking up to meet her eyes._

 _"Dunzo?" His mouth tilted at the corner into a slight smirk._

 _"Ugghh. We're so far past dunzo.." She giggled, leaning to rest the side of her head on the back cushion of the couch, finally tearing her gaze from the screen and meeting his eyes head on as his laugh quietened down. "..actually, that should never of happened in the first place"_

 _"Tell me about it" he mumbled mirroring her movements as she took an exhaustive sigh._

 _"I know. You warned me. I should of just listened to you."_

 _"Yeah you should have...You know I'm always right". She delicately giggled at that resulting in those damn butterflies he came to expect to pop up around Caroline fluttering even more so in the pit of his stomach. A wide smile spread across his cheeks just hearing that laugh and he gazed at her with a look of pure adoration._

 _Her laughter eventually trickled down and a sudden tension that came from seemingly nowhere filled the room. Caroline scrutinised his look for a brief moment before lowering her voice in that calm, comforting, motherly tone she did that would always ease his worries when he got nervous._

 _"Hey. I promise. I'm not gonna get back with Klaus" his eyelids fluttered._

 _"That's what you said before you fell for it the first time" he whispered vulnerably. So low you could hardly hear it._

 _"... Yeah well. Mature Caroline remember?"_

 _He sniggered again at that unable to hold it in. Her head snapped up from its resting position on the couch cushion as she pointed an accusatory finger and narrowed her eyes in that adorable scrunched up demanding way she did. She pulled a comforting smile together and it completely eased all worried jumbled thoughts running through his mind._

 _"I'm right about this one. Klaus and me, it wasn't right... And I won't be making that mistake again."_

 _"Good" they held a heated stare olive green eyes meeting ocean blue. There was this odd air between them. Like they were hovering over the lines set up previously on their friendship and boundaries were being crossed. They'd always had their moments that Stefan felt held more weight than just regular friendship, but moments like these were becoming more frequent and heavy lately. He didn't really know what to think of it. Was there something more going on between them? Or was he just reading to much into moments like these? Was this just another instance where that voice he begged to stay locked down in the back of his mind begged for release. To lung across this couch and kiss her so senseless they could just smash through those barriers of fear and insecurity._

 _His eyes flickered down to her lips. God what he wouldn't give for just a taste of those rose plump lips. He wanted to feel her lips on his. Yearned for it._

 _Just a taste. Maybe that would satisfy him. Just a peck. He told himself, but who was he kidding? Cause he's already had a taste. That time that was supposed to never be mentioned. To be locked away in the bank of forgotten memories. But it wasn't there. It was at the forefront of his mind constantly. The feel of her lips against his. He couldn't forget about it in moments like this. If anything the mere memory just made him thirsty for more._

 _His head inclined at minuscule speed closer to reach out and do just that on accord of it's own. He blinked hard in attempt to rein himself in. What was he doing? He had a girlfriend. This wouldn't be fair to Ivy and it wouldn't be fair to Caroline. She probably didn't even want him to kiss her. And even if she did, if they were ever going to give them a shot they needed to do it right. No messy situations. No other people waiting in the wings. Just them._

 _"So. No going back right?" He broke the tension, gaze still drawn on her lips. He watched her lightly shake her head out of her own little haze turning her attention fully back onto the TV._

 _"Nope. You only get one shot with Caroline Forbes from now on" he looked to her one last time before forcing his own eyes to lock onto the TV screen as well._

 _"Better not screw up my shot then" he teased smiling grin adorning his face._

 _"Better not" she smirked._

* * *

"Caroline can I uh... Can I talk to you for a minute?" Stefan asked meekly shoving his fidgeting hands into his jean pockets.

"I'll catch you later Care" Ric declared from beside her. Caroline gave him a small smile and light nod before he dissapeared behind the door back inside to the party, affording them some privacy.

"What do you want now Stefan?" She exhaustively complained.

"Look I don't really know how to ask this, so i'm just gonna come out and say it..."

It was driving him mad. He needed to know.

"...Who's Lizzie's-"

"-There you are" Damon interrupted as he burst out the door Ric just walked out of.

Stefan audibly sighed. Typical. As soon as he gained the courage to ask he was interrupted from ever getting answers to questions he needed to know. His nostrils flared in annoyance as he licked his tongue over his teeth.

"What's wrong? Is Lizzie ok?" Caroline began to ask panicking and heading for the door.

"Relax she's fine. But I've got Klaus Jr. following me around in there demanding I put on glittery fairy wings and some shiny tiara"

She scoffed at laugh probably picturing the image of that in her head.

"It's not funny. This is all your fault"

"Hey I'm not the reason you're here"

"Yeah well she's _still_ not talking to me. So can you just go in there and fix it for me"

"Damon Salvatore asking for _my_ help with girl trouble. I thought I was supposed to stay out of your business." She goaded Damon in whatever predicament he found himself in, loving every second by the looks of it.

He however, didn't really have time for whatever drama Damon's love life found itself in now. He needed the truth from Caroline and he wasn't waiting any longer to find it out.

"Could you just give us a minute Damon" Stefan interrupted earning himself an evil glare from Damon as his lips snarled in distaste at being demanded to leave.

"Shouldn't you be on a plane"

"Yeah I'm going I just need Caroline to answer some questions for me first."

"Well I pretty sure she doesn't want to talk to you"

"It's fine Damon. Just say what you want to say Stefan" she asked tiredly.

He could feel her annoyance of his presence. He was pushing her too much when he knew he should be giving her space. They'd already had enough weightfull conversations today to reach their limit and she probably just needed a break from him at this point. He could feel her snapping earlier and he sensed it again right now. But he couldn't let this go.

"Look. I know I probably don't deserve to know and after everything I-"

"-just get to the point Stefan." Damon demanded already exhaustively fed up with Stefan's annoying habit to beat around the bush before saying whatever he wanted to say.

"Who is Elizabeth's father?" He snapped, shocking himself to how blunt that sounded. What was even more shocking however was the deafening silence he was met with by the two people in front of him.

Damon and Caroline were the most talkative people he knew. They were hardly ever at a loss for words, always had a comment about everything and when they were together it was worse. Like they constantly wanted to one up each other. Drown the other person out with the sound of their own voice. He doesn't think he's ever seen both of them stumped for words at the same time. He wished he could take a picture of the moment but rather then refreshing it was startling. Like he was missing something that they knew.

Their eyes were wide and faces a picture of confusion but that would not deter him. He met their gazes with a serious unnerving stare of his own as they all continued to stand in silence.

"Did you hit your head or something?" His brother questioned eyes narrowed at Stefan, the latter running his tongue over his teeth in annoyance. Did he really need to be here in this exact moment. This was between Stefan and Caroline. He didn't need his brothers annoying sniping comments.

".. suffering memory loss? Got a case of amnesia there bro?" Damon continued to taunt giving that wide sarcastic smirk he did to purposely piss people off.

"...Need me to beat some sense back into Ya?"

"I'm good Damon. Why don't you just leave this between me and Caroline?" He muttered through gritted teeth, irritatedly giving evil eyes to his brother.

"You know I never thought I'd say this but I'd rather he stay. You can go" Caroline stated shocking herself with those words.

"I'm not going anywhere till you tell me what the hell is going on" He demanded voice rising slightly in aggravation. He just wanted to know the truth.

"Nothing is going on!" she yelled back in annoyance, her own voice rising to meet the same level as his.

"So you haven't been acting weird since I came back"

Her head bowed backwards like she was caught off guard by the gawk of his questioning.

" _I've_ been acting weird?..." She laughed at that but it was filled with anger. Her chest started to heave as pent up frustration reached its boiling point.

"...How would you know you haven't been around for the last five years"

"Who's her father Caroline?" he solemnly asked once again the question he already knew the answer to in his heart of hearts. He just wanted to hear her say it.

She finally snapped at him.

"Whats that even suppose to mean?!" She screeched hands clawing out in frustration towards him.

She reined in her temper trying to pull back all the emotional hate for him she was exuding. He watched her take a deep breath, closing her eyes to regain her composure as her arms fell back to their sides.

"..You really want to know. Elizabeth doesn't have a father. And she doesn't need one. She has me, and _I_ won't abandon her.." she had lowered her voice to a more calming manner but the anger was still quite clear in her voice as she muttered through clenched teeth

".. _I_ would never leave her behind unlike some people."

Stefan's breathing became heavier. He felt the tightening of his throat and vision blurring. His face draining in colour as blood was pounding ferociously through his veins. His heart raced hard and fast against his chest like it was stretching free after breaking through chains of an aged locked confinement.

"Blondie?" Damon's voice suddenly seemed apprehensive low tone compared to his and Caroline's.

"No. He can't do this he can't go around pretending she doesn't exist anymore. We're done with it. I can't believe I keep giving you chance after chance. And I don't even know why. I guess I just keep hoping you turn back into the guy I use to know. And I know that there's a part of you still in there that is the Stefan who I remember but-"

"-Caroline." Damon caustiously questioned in a warning tone, but she persevered ignoring his interruption shaking her head from side to side as Stefan froze dumbstruck in front of her.

"... I'm not having you come back here to have her to fall in love with you, for you just to run away again when it gets too real for you. The way you always do. I'm not having you breaking her heart and ruining her life the way you ruined mine" she finally burst out.

His mouth stuttered open and shut as he looked for the words, but there really are no words.

" You know what I can't be here. I'm not doing this with you again. I barely survived the last time"

"-Caroline" Stefan tried to interrupt before she cut him off.

"-No. Don't Stefan..."

Tears clouded her blue orbs as her tongue briefly rested on her upper lip the way she only did when she was trying to force back the tears. Her voice began to crack as she was ripped open in a completely vulnerable state that she'd been fighting away for so long.

"...You made your choice. You made you're choice five years ago and I have been living with it. And Me and Lizzie were doing just fine on our own."

Tears glistened his own eyes at seeing her break down in front of him. And it was all his fault. He felt like he was dying and his heart wrenched as he could do nothing but watch the lone tear roll down her cheek as her finger wiped away to hide it.

He wanted her to go back to the way she was before. Be mad at him. Give him the silent treatment, completely ignore his existence, he didn't care at this point. Anything to not have to watch the pain he was inflicting on her.

But he'd come to far now to turn back. He just needed to hear her say it.

"Am I her father?" He solemnly questioned through a cracked voice caused by the lump in his throat.

The tears streaked down finally breaking from the dam built up in her eyes. She bit the sides of her cheeks lightly shaking her head in denial. She still refused to answer the question. Like she was trying to lie to herself about it.

Still Stefan just wanted to hear her say it. So for an excruciatingly painful few minutes he just continued to watch her. His penetrating gaze begging her eyes to meet his but she refused to cave. Eyes darting around everywhere but to his. When their eyes finally locked onto one another he felt his heart stop. Cause he knew right then. He could see it in her eyes. But she still refused to say a word.

It was Damon to finally crack in the pressure of the silence.

"You're her father Stefan. Lizzie's your kid" he declared in a surprisingly gentle tone for Damon.

His hands reached up gripping furiously at his brunette locks. He vigorously rubbed his palms over his face reeling from this information. He could feel the prickling pain in the corners of his eyes.

So he was her father.

"God Caroline what have you done? How could you do this. How could not tell me. How could you-"

"-wait!" She raised a hand to stop him mid way through his panicking rant.

"..What are you talking about not telling you. I told you. I told you and you took the first flight out to New York"

"I left when I found out you got back together with Klaus." Her eyes squinted together in more confusion.

"I never got back with Klaus" she denied straight out and now Stefan's face mirrored her confusion.

"What? But dad said-"

"-Hold on. You're dad was my doctor. He was the one who told me I was pregnant."

"What?"

All three of them stood there in silence as they reeled from the revelation. Stefan began to feel like the biggest moron on the planet. His mind finally started to catch up and piece together the crumblings of his life. He now knew why his father wanted him out of town so quickly. Why he wanted him to cut all communication with everyone here. Why he disowned Damon from the family. To hide him from the real truth.


End file.
